Legend of Zelda: Tale of Souls
by Zeldafan96
Summary: In a parallel universe, tragedy strikes the kingdom of Hyrule and a young Link is forced to live his life in a foreign kingdom. But when destiny inevitably calls, will he be up to the task?
1. Chapter 1

_**I STRONGLY recommend you read the following before starting the story. **_

**While this story will mainly feature characters from **_**The Legend of Zelda **_**series and the **_**Soul **_**(or **_**Soul Calibur**_**) series of fighting games, it will also feature some characters from the **_**Fire Emblem **_**series and quite a few from the **_**Tekken**_** series (the latter will appear MUCH later into the story, so don't hold your breath).**

**I've had an EXTREMELY hard time trying to word what you will read next to where it won't p*** people off and keep them from reading the story. This story will take place in an alternate universe where almost nothing is the same. For example, almost all characters will have a different background, all non-Zelda characters (except Tekken characters) will live in, and be from, the same place, two canonically (if that's a word) unrelated characters could be father/son or a character's daughter in canon could be their sister in the story.**

**With that said, I'd also like to say that before some of you mercilessly bash my story let me remind you that this is a FAN **_**FICTION**_**! So anyway, here's a preview of the first chapter. **

_On the first chapter of The Legend of Zelda: Tale of Souls_

Link stepped back quickly as soon as the creature looked in his direction. _It didn't see me, did it? _Just then, as if it were answering Link's question, the humanoid beast ran at full speed towards the door, and thrust its hand at the hole, making an even bigger one. Link jumped back, and the woman screamed as the creature tore its way through the door**.**

_**Chapter 1: The Hylian Massacre**_

**Author's Note: I had originally intended to publish the first chapter along with this preface, but I'm very curious about what you readers think about this story disregarding (for the most part) all the characters' respective games aside from the **_**Zelda **_**series and about how most of the non-Zelda characters will have different roles than in their games and mostly different backgrounds. So post your opinions in the review section, and if you want, you can also post questions which I will answer in a Q&A section on the next chapter to clear up any confusion (I will not use your name).**


	2. The Hylian Massacre

****WARNING! READER'S DISCRETION IS ADVISED!****

**Author's Note: ...Okay, so even though I was expecting worse, I can tell by the two reviews I've gotten for the preface today that it won't be very well-received... Hopefully this chapter will elaborate on what I was trying to say about how the story will go. So anyway, throughout the chapter you will notice a lack of details describing Hyrule. This is because the descriptions will be based on what Link has already seen.**

Chapter 1: The Hylian Massacre

It was a breezy and unusually cloudy day in the kingdom of Hyrule. The fields were, for the most part, featureless save for the ranch located near the center and the many fences scattered across the plains.

Across this great field walked Link, a very young boy of short stature for his age, garbed in a green tunic and a matching green cap along with blonde hair and blue eyes. On his back, was the Kokiri Sword, which he found in the training ground at his home in the Kokiri Forest, and the Deku Shield, which he had bought to go along with his sword.

Link had just recently discovered that he was the only Kokiri who could leave the forest. It happened a month ago when he and his best friend, Saria, were being chased by two wolf-like creatures through the forest. After being separated, Link wound up in a field of grass. Link and Saria being found by monsters in the forest, which is supposed to be free of them, was especially strange to the Kokiri, the forest locals, because even the most intelligent of creatures had no hope of navigating safely through the forest, yet two monsters who were known to lack intelligence of any kind were able to find their way to them. Despite not thinking much of it anymore, Link and Saria initially thought that the encounter happened by mere chance until the guardian spirit of the forest, the Great Deku Tree voiced his suspicion that someone may have led the creatures to them, not for Saria, but for Link. But unfortunately, the tree spirit suddenly passed away before he could tell Link why.

Now, Link was on his way to Castle Town to buy something he had his eye on since he left the forest for a second time. It was a shield that, at first glance, seemed to be much more protective than the wooden shield he bought back home. It was called a Hylian Shield. It was blue, decorated with three gooden triangles near the top with what looked like a red bird below it. Link wanted to get the shield for Saria because she had gotten hurt while they were running from the monsters. But first, since he had time to kill, he decided to make a stop.

Lon Lon Ranch was renowned in many countries to house the best tasting milk in the world, Lon Lon Milk. However, Link had to have his dose of milk specially made because, for some reason, the milk tends to get people drunk. Luckily, the owner of the ranch, Talon, would make milk the same way for his daughter, Malon, who was the same age as Link. As Link fantasized about Saria's reaction upon seeing the shield he'll get for her, he failed to notice Mr. Ingo, the skinny worker for the ranch, and bumped into him.

"Watch where you're going, you brat!" he shouted.

Without responding, Link continued down the narrow path until he entered the corral where he had seen Talon for the first time.

Link let out an annoyed sigh as he looked across the wide out space, "Where is he?" he wondered to himself. As he continued to look on, he heard a beautiful voice ring out across the corral. "What's that?" he wondered as he moved toward the sound.

In the middle of the corral, there was a tall fence that spanned out in a circle. As Link walked through the one opening, he found the source of the angelic noise: a small girl with round, blue eyes and red hair. She wore a white dress with a yellow ribbon around her neck and a pendant of a menacing-looking beast. Malon stopped singing when she noticed Link walking towards her.

"Hi, Grasshopper!" she called, vibrant as ever.

"Hey, Malon." Link answered with a hint of annoyance in his tone. "Do you know where your...'dad' is?" The fist time Link came to the ranch, Malon had to explain the concept of parents to him.

Malon gave a rather disappointed sigh before answering, "He's in there." Malon answered, pointing at a tall, white building.

"Okay, thanks!" Link turned and ran towards the building.

"Just make sure you're here to play next time, Grasshopper!" Malon scolded playfully.

"Uhh...sure!" Link called back before leaving her line of sight. As Link entered the house, a flock of cuccos (Hyrule's name for chicken) crazily scattered, waking the lazily dozing man who was sleeping against a stack of boxes. Dusting off his red and blue overalls, and straightening his pendant, which was identical to his daughter's, he looked over at Link.

"Well, howdy, son." Talon greeted in the middle of a yawn. "Didn't think I'd see _you_ again. What brings you here? You don't have to ask to play with Malon."

"Uh... I-I'm not here for that. I was passing by and thought I'd get some milk."

"Oh, well if that's the case, I'll fix some up for you." Talon took a bottle of milk from one of the boxes, and began working on it. "So, what brings you 'round these parts?" Talon asked again.

"I was going to that...place over there." Link pointed toward the northern wall.

"You mean Castle Town?"

"Yeah, that's it! Well I was going there to get a shield."

Talon looked back and saw that Link had a sword and shield equipped. "Now what's such a young child like yourself doin' with those?"

Link looked back at his sword and sighed as if he were recalling a nightmare. "I've had _this _ shield for about a month, but I've had this sword for a while now. I was just never interested in it. But one time, me and my friend were found by some monsters and we had no way to defend ourselves. My friend got hurt by one of them, so I'm getting a shield for her so she can defend herself if that ever happened again."

"I see." Talon said slowly as he finished Link's milk. "Well you be careful out there, hear?" he advised, handing Link the bottle of milk. "Malon'd be awful lonely without you." Talon gave him a quick wink, though Link didn't know what it meant.

Link said his farewells to Talon and Malon before heading back out on his way to Castle Town. As he approached the drawbridge, Link couldn't help but comment on the weather which seemed to be getting worse. "It's pretty dark out for this time of day." he said to himself

"You got _that _right, kid." said a nearby guard who happened to hear him. "You'd better get home soon. I'd hate to see such a little guy get caught in a storm." Of course, the guard only noticed the weather. But in the winds, Link felt something else; something ominous. Heeding the guard's warning, Link speedily made his way to the Bazaar where people were all over the place with children playing, and adults either watching their pets, walking around, just standing there, or trying to buy something at the outdoor shop, none of them paying any attention to the worsening weather. Amid the seemingly eternal bustling of the city, the only thing that seemed out of place was a soldier dressed in black armor, riding a white horse, racing through the Bazaar with a look of fear and panic carved onto his face. _Weird, _Link thought as he entered a building.

Link has only been to the Item Shop one other time when he saw the shield he wanted to get for Saria.

"Welcome to the Item Shop." said the owner who was one of the bigest people Link had ever seen.

"Do you still have the Hylian Shield?" Link asked as he looked around at the items on sale.

"Yes," he replied as he took out a big blue shield, "this is the last one in stock."

Link looked closely at the shield and noticed something different: The shield was slightly longer at the bottom. And in the extra space there was a fourth triangle. But unlike the other three, this one was upside down and looked like it could fit the space between the three triangles further above. "It looks different." he mused.

"That's because it's a much older model of the shield. It's still the same thing."

"Um... okay. I'll get that."

"Eighty Rupees." he growled before Link proudly tossed the bag of Rupees on the counter.

"Here." the owner said after giving him a look that almost said "sucker".

It was only after Link had left the Item Shop that he noticed something wrong: the shield was far too big for his size and as he strugled to put it in a comfortable position on his back, he failed to notice the masses of people running in the opposite direction, panicking as they ran past. Just as Link approached the drawbridge, a large group of guards sped past him with one stopping to grab his arm.

"What are you doing, kid!?" he shouted, "We already ordered you civilians to take shelter!"

"W-what?" Link stammered in absolute confusion. But before he could get any response, he said a panicked yelp followed by fearful words.

"IT'S NOT RISING UP!" a guard shouted, referring to the drawbridge.

The guard holding Link's arm cursed under his breath before pulling Link by the arm, toward a house. "Hide this kid!" he ordered to the couple inside before leaving back out. The woman rushed over to Link and grabbed his hand.

"Over here, sweetie." she said softly, leading him to a closet. As she closed the door, with Link in it, he only stood there, confused beyond description. _What's going on? _he thought to himself, _the weather can't be _that _bad, could it? _Link then thought back to the guards who rushed past him in a hurried frenzy. _No... that can't be it. But what is it?_

Link's pondering was interrupted by the whispering on the other side of the door. Link pressed his ear against the door to listen, avoiding the notably large hole to remain hidden.

"But, sweetie," the woman said, "what if you get hurt?"

"Listen." the man replied sternly, "if what that other guard said is true, then this kingdom's under attack. If he think's I'm gonna hide while someone rumages through _my _house, he's got another thing comming. I'll be _damned _ if I let that happen!"

"But-"

"I _have_ to protect us... and our son." he placed his hand on his wife's womb as she looked at her feet in submission.

"Okay..." she agreed reluctantly. "Just be careful." the couple shared no more words as the woman headed towards the closet door. Link quickly stepped back so she wouldn't know he was eavesdropping. The woman said nothing as she sat down on the floor beside Link. After giving a quick glance at her, Link looked out the hole at the man, who appeared to be working on what looked like a blunt object. Just then, a loud bumping noise rang throughout the house, quickly followed by another one. The man looked towards the door only to see it topple over with three strange figures rushing through and ran straight at him. As the man swung his weapon at the figures, Link only stared in confusion. Whoever the figures were, Link could tell from their movements that they had no weapons of their own, nor did they appear to have any training at any type of hand to hand combat; they would only extend their thin arms at the man to try to grab him. Eventually, the man was overwhelmed and his adversaries had gotten the upper hand. Link watched in utter shock as one of the figures forced the man to the ground and took a bite at his throat. Link took a step back to try to get the woman to look through the hole, but as soon as he looked over at her, he could see the woman's face was damp with tears and she was trying her best to keep her sobs in as she could tell from the painful screams of her husband what was happening. Link looked through the whole again to see the man struggling to get free before both his screaming, and movements, ceased as a stream of blood gushed out of his body, and toward the door. As a drop made its way through the hole and down Link's cheek, he felt a feeling he had never experienced. It was just then, as one of the figures looked toward his direction and he finally saw its black, scaly skin and blue eyes that glowed with bloodlust, that he realized what this feeling was: he was afraid.

Link stepped back quickly as soon as the creature looked in his direction. _It didn't see me, did it? _Just then, as if it were answering Link's question, the humanoid beast ran at full speed towards the door, and thrust its hand at the hole, making an even bigger one. Link jumped back, and the woman screamed as the creature tore its way through the door. The monster went straight for Link, but the woman intercepted it, grabbing the beast by the forearm and pushed hard against it, as it did in return.

"You know how to use that sword, right!?" the woman asked urgently, strugling against the monster, who was obviously stronger.

"U...uh-huh." Link answered, his voice trembling.

"Use it!"

Link looked up at the monster. Its blue eyes were glowing with murderous intent as it snarled and growled viciously as it slowly gained the upper hand over the woman and tried desperately to bite her. Before Link could think to even lift a finger, his newfound fear overwhelmed him and he ran out the closet, leaving the woman behind.

"No! Wait!" Link heard the woman call before letting out a blood-soaked scream as the creature took its first bite on her. Link ran past the the other two creatures, who were still occupied their first victim, and out the house. As he re-entered the Bazaar, Link saw that the monsters were all over the place, killing everyone in their path. _What's happening? _Link thought, seeing the trail of blood and destruction led to Hyrule Castle.

A few of the monsters noticed him, and almost tripped over themselves as they sprinted at him. Link, seeing this, turned and sprinted toward the drawbridge. On the way, he saw the bloodied, half-eaten corpses of the many guards that ran past him earlier, incuding the one that ordered the couple to hide him, along with a few of the creatures who they managed to strike down in their battle. As Link made his way to Hyrule Field, it had finally started to rain. Thick drops of water rained down on the fields hard, washing away most of the blood on the field, but did nothing to wash away the immense fear in Link's heart.

As Link passed Lon Lon Ranch, he could've sworn he saw a dark horse running away with only one person on it. He didn't pay this much mind as he had only on goal in mind: getting home to the Kokiri Forest. Link seemingly ran for hours until finally getting to the forest. It was there he saw the exact same thing he saw at Castle Town. Dead, bloodied corpses everywhere. Upon noticing them, tears finally came down Link's panicked face. When he heard the snarling of the monsters that had been chasing him, which alerted more of the monsters that were still in the forest for some reason, Link started to run again, only thinking of his own survival. On instinct, he subconsciously decided to loose them in the Lost Woods, a mysterious part of the forest that only the Kokiri could navigate through. Link had never been through there by himself and, for whatever reason, wasn't allowed to. But what choice did he have?

Link hurried to the entrance to the Lost Woods, attracting more of the beasts that were in the forest. In the woods, he attempted to take a right, which was where the trail the the Sacred Forest Meadow, Link and Saria's secret "meeting place", started, but another one of the creatures came from that direction and, without thinking, he took a left instead. Link hadn't realized he went the wrong way until a few minutes later. He again subconsciously decided to get back to the trail after loosing his pursuers. However, as Link ran, he was straying further and further away from the path. It wasn't until well after the sun had set and the moon had risen into the sky that Link had known for certain that he had lost the monsters. With his mind now fully intact, he decided to rest behind a boulder in a corner of the four-sided clearing. The sound of thunder, which now accompanied the hard-falling rain made it hard for Link to rest with comfort, it took almost a half hour for him to finally doze of, the fear of being discovered still haunting him.

As soon as he fell asleep, however, he felt a sudden, powerful tug on his right arm. Link awoke to see one of the black, scaly beasts he had been running from pulling on him. Suddenly panicked, Link pulled back and the two engaged in a tug of war over his arm.

Link lost.

The beast bit down on Link's arm and over his scream of pain, he could barely hear the bone In his arm crack, and distant, but hurried, hurried footsteps speedily approaching. On instinct, Link unsheathed his sword and and stabbed the creature in the forehead. When it let go, the creature fell on its back, dead, and Link escaped through the other side and began running again even though his speed was greatly reduced thanks to his now-wounded arm. A while later, he looked back to see the creatures were gaining on him at an alarming pace.

"No!" Link yelled as he desperately dug through his Adventure Pouch for anything that could aid him. Link grabbed the first thing he got his hand on, which was luckily a bomb, and threw it behind him. As the bomb exploded, Link continued running, this time not looking back.

Elsewhere, at another part of the forest, two people heard the explosion.

"What was that?" asked a voice that belonged to a man.

"It was an explosion." replied a feminine voice, "It came from this way."

Link ran until he could only speedily stumble forward to keep from falling. By now, the sun had just begun to rise, and Link was too tired to listen for the monsters who, unbeknownst to him, weren't too far behind. As Link entered another clearing, yet another figure was already there. But this one, unlike the others, only stood there. As the sun continued to climb the still-rainy sky, the faint sunlight revealed the figure to be a man who looked well into his mid-twenties, dressed in blue and yellow with a high ponytail and had a sword sheathed at his left. Link, knowing that the man was seemingly harmless to him, gave a releived smile before finally collapsing from exhaustion.

_To be continued!_

**Author's Note: For those of you who are wondering why Malon calls Link "Grasshopper", it's because Link doesn't have Navi with him, so I thought that "Fairy Boy" wouldn't work out. Anyway, I hope you all liked the chapter because it took me months to make because of writer's block after constantly deleting it by accident (I had it done for a while, but since I'm new to fanfiction, I didn't know how to publish it). So that's all for now, but don't forget to review!**


	3. Foreign Land

**Author's Note: Unfortunately, this chapter and a few of the ones that follow will be pretty boring in comparison to the first one and may be disappointing to whoever was waiting for an update. While reading the chapter, remember what you read in the Preface. **

_On the last chapter of the legend of Zelda: Tale of Souls_

Link ran until he could only speedily stumble forward to keep from falling. By now, the sun had just begun to rise, and Link was too tired to listen for the monsters who, unbeknownst to him, weren't too far behind. As Link entered another clearing, yet another figure was already there. But this one, unlike the others, only stood there. As the sun continued to climb the still-rainy sky, the faint sunlight revealed the figure to be a man who looked well into his mid-twenties, dressed in blue and yellow with a high ponytail and had a sword sheathed at his left. Link, knowing that the man was seemingly harmless, gave a releived smile before finally collapsing from exhaustion.

Chapter 2: Foreign Land

As Link lied face-down on the moist forest ground, the mysterious man still stood there, studying him. Before he could decide on his next course of action, two of the creatures Link had been running from burst into the clearing and stopped in their tracks upon seeing the man standing. They both snarled and sprinted at him before the mysterious individual skillfully cut them both down. Just then, as the man sheathed his blade, two more figures came into the clearing from behind him.

"Mitsurugi." called a slightly masculine voice.

The man turned around upon hearing his name to see another man with blonde hair, dressed in an indigo jacket and black pants, followed by a woman dressed in a red bodysuit with gold, plated armor on her shoulders, forearms, and around her waiste like a belt. She also had a black mask that covered from her nose, down to her chin.

The two paused upon seeing the two creatures Mitsurugi had slain, and then focused their vision on Link.

"Is she alive?" asked the blonde-haired man.

"That's a boy." the woman corrected, walking up to Link's body.

"...Oh... of course! Well, is _he _alive?"

"Barely. He's bleeding heavily from his arm. Mitsurugi, did you find him like this?"

"No." he answered flatly, "He walked into this clearing and passed out. It looks like he was running from these creatures here." The three stood in silence for a moment until Mitsurugi spoke again. "What should we do, Raphael? Should we keep going?"

"That wouldn't be a very good idea." said the woman before Raphael could answer.

"Why not, Taki?" he asked.

"Think about it. Hyrule sent the SOS yesterday, and it took us _this _long to get here. And look at this boy. He looks exhausted. It's clear he's been running for a while now. My guess is that it's too late to help them." The three stood there silently until Taki spoke up again. "This boy seems to be a Hylian." she mused, "We should take him with us so he can tell the King about what he saw."

Raphael and Mitsurugi both silently agreed, and resolved to take Link with them. There was only one problem.

"How are we going to get back to Capital?" Mitsurugi asked, "These woods are like a labyrinth. The boy may die before we find a way out."

"Simple." Taki answered, "I left a trail so we wouldn't get lost."

"Nice thinking, Taki!" Raphael complimented, "But who's going to carry him back?"

Taki looked at Raphael, then they both looked at Mitsurugi.

"...You want _me _to carry him?" Mitsurugi asked, glancing at Link's bloody arm.

"Don't be such a baby." Taki scolded, "Besides. I seem to recall you proudly saying you were the 'strongest' out of all of us."

Mitsurugi gave a look of annoyance at Taki before going over to Link and picking him up.

"Okay, let's go." Taki said as she and Raphael began walking back the way they came.

"Wait a second." Mitsurugi called out to Taki. She stopped where she was, but Raphael kept going. "This is our first time traversing these woods. How in the world did you know we'd need to leave a trail?"

Taki only stood there, motionless for a moment. "Let's go." she said again more firmly.

Before Mitsurugi could question Taki again, they heard Raphael sigh. "Look, if you two wanted some alone time, at least wait until we're done with our mission." Enraged, Taki gave him a swift punch to the top of the head.

"Enough playing around; let's go!" Taki yelled.

"How rude." Raphael muttered under his breath as he and Mitsurugi set out for the exit; following Taki's trail. But just as Taki left to join them, she gave a remorseful look at the two dead creatures. It was as if she knew something about them.

The trio took several hours to get to the exit to the Lost Woods. Upon exiting, they all silently made their way to a large town with many houses and shops scattered throughout the city. As they passed a wooden house, they heard a small voice call out.

"Teacher!"

Taki, Raphael, and Mitsurugi looked up to see a small girl looking down at them from a balcony.

"What is it, Talim?" Taki called back, "I have to get to the Healing Tent, so make it quick.

Talim waited a moment before speaking, "Does it have to do with him?" she asked, leaning forward to look at Link.

"Yes. He-"

"Can I come?" she asked so quickly, she even surprised herself.

Taki and her companions stared silently at her before Taki answered. "...I don't see why not."

As Talim came outside to join them, Raphael moved toward Taki. "You don't suppose she's coming with us because she's attracted to that boy, do you?"

"No." Taki answered casually, "She just likes being outside. Besides, I doubt Talim's given much thought on boys. Especially the ones _some _people mistake for a girl."

Talim, despite hearing what Raphael and Taki said, focused on the wind. Nobody else could tell, but it seemed different today. The group approached a tall building with glass windows on some of the walls. The first floor looked entirely bland with a woman working the counter in front of a wide curtain that spanned across the entirety of the wide area.

"Can I help you?" she asked.

"Yes." Raphael answered, "This child needs immediate medical attention."

The worker looked over at Link as the blood now only fell from his arm in drops. She then nodded and quickly motioned for them to follow her behind the curtain. She led them up a stairwell and to a room who's floor and walls had a softer surface compared to the entrance with the counter. Mitsurugi laid him down on the bed.

"We should go report to the King what happened." Raphael suggested.

Taki and Mitsurugi agreed as a doctor entered the room and began working on Link's wound.

"Talim, you stay here." Taki ordered. Talim reluctantly agreed, despite wanting to be outside with the wind.

The trio left the building, and started toward the blue castle that towered over every other building. Upon entry, they saw that the lobby of the castle was as busy as usual with people moving at different paces in and out of its many sections. As they approached the throne room, Taki took a deep breath. "Here we go." she uttered to herself.

When they entered, the first thing they noticed were the five individuals on the other side of the room. Three of them were seated, and the other two stood with one on each side of the three that were seated. The most notable one was the King, whose muscular frame rested on his throne.

"You're back already?" he asked.

"Your Majesty," Raphael began, "we _were _on our way to Hyrule, but we found something on the way."

After a moment of silence, the King only stared across at the three as they kneeled before their king. "You mind telling me what it was?" he asked impatiently. Raphael proceeded them about how they traveled through the Lost Woods and found Link heavily wounded, exhausted and unconscious. And how they decided to bring him back to get information out of him.

"So let me get this straight." the King said after a moment. "You left a little kid in a room he's never been in, in a place he's never been to, in a kingdom he's probably never even heard of... alone?" Raphael and Mitsurugi both looked at Taki as she sighed.

"Not... exactly." she said, not wanting to speak to her king.

Talim sat in the mostly white room feeling mostly bored as she stared out the window. "It looks very nice outside." she said to herself, "And being in here with a wounded boy is making me uncomfortable." She glanced over at the unconscious boy before looking out the window again. "I wonder if..." Talim leaned over to open the window. As she got it open, she took a deep breath. "That's much better." she mused as she felt the rush of cool air enter the room. Talim stuck her head out the window to feel the breeze, but just then, a gust of wind gently pushed her inside and then slowed down, brushing against her skin. Talim looked in the direction the wind was going, and found that the boy in the bed was stirring, slowly gaining consciousness.

_To be continued! _

**Author's Note: I don't know about you, but I didn't enjoy this chapter very much... (partially because this is my fourth time writing it). Anyway, here's a preview for the next chapter. **

_On the next chapter of The Legend of Zelda: Tale of Souls_

"I'm not sure if you know by now," the King started, "but you've been brought here for questioning. But first, since you probably don't know what's going on, allow me to fill you in on everything. This place you're in now, is a kingdom not at all too far away from Hyrule, but connected only by the mystical forest known as the Lost Woods. This kingdom you've found yourself in now goes by many names. But since its founding, it is known by many people as the Chai Dynasty."

Chapter 3: The Chai Dynasty


	4. The Chai Dynasty

**Author's Note: I'd like to take this opportunity to answer a question asked by XRahkZorzX regarding the King. The King is actually Hwang from **_**Soul Calibur. **_**I will keep labeling him as the King for reasons that have to do with the storyline. It will be elaborated on in a later chapter, but he has two children (a daughter and a son) that will be appearing later. Neither of them are related to each other in the game. The name of the chapter pretty much gives away who the daughter is, but the son (and daughter) will be MUCH younger than he (and she) is in the game. I chose this person to play this role because later, he'll do... something bad (don't wanna spoil it :p) and will then behave just like the character. As for Taki, Mitsurugi, and Raphael, they aren't necessarily knights or anything, they were just selected for their mission. The whole "random people being selected for random missions" will also be elaborated on in a later chapter. **

_On the last chapter of The Legend of Zelda: Tale of Souls_

Talim stuck her head out the window to feel the breeze, but just then, a gust of wind gently pushed her inside and then slowed down, brushing against her skin. Talim looked in the direction the wind was going, and found that the boy in the bed was stirring, slowly gaining consciousness.

Chapter 3: The Chai Dynasty

_Fate. At the expense of some, it creates legends. For others, it leads to unfortunate demise. Despite what many beleive, Fate can be determined by one's actions in life. However, there was one who's fate was forever sealed. This person, who's spirit is reborn in the many different eras this world has seen, is forever fated to save the land known by many as Hyrule from the many dangers it faces at the hands of those who seek the Ultimate Power that sleeps, hidden away from mankind. However, somewhere along the the flow of time, the ultimate fate of this person was voluntarily altered even to the point to where not even I can return it to normal. Worry not, child, for before the flame of your life is extinguished due to circumstances far beyond your control, you shall be surrounded by loved ones. Those who would risk all for you, just as you would for them. They will be like a family to you just as you will be for for them. This time, when the time comes for you to awaken as the hero, the trials you will encounter will be more perilous than anything your last incarnations has ever faced. Fret not, my chosen hero, for this time your many companions will help you every step of the way._

Link slowly gained consciousness and sat up to search for the owner of the voice he had just heard. As he looked toward the window he saw a Talim, who looked straight into his eyes. _His eyes are so pure, _she thought _they're just like mine. _Meanwhile, Link returned her stare. But it wasn't a look of awe, it was a look of confusion. _Why's this girl staring at me? _he thought, _she must be some kind of weirdo. _After a few more seconds, Link was the one to break the silence.

"Were you the one who was just talking to me?" he asked.

"...No." Talim answered, confused. _He must've had a dream before he woke up._

Before either of them could say another word, Taki, Mitsurugi, and Raphael came into the room. "Looks like our little friend has awakened!" Raphael noted. Just then, as if on cue, a doctor walked into the room.

"I've come with news on his condition." he announced.

"Condition?" Link repeated.

"Don't you remenber?" Mitsurugi asked. "You passed out in the forest after running from those monsters."

_So... it wasn't a dream... _Link thought.

"So what's his condition?" asked Taki.

"Well," the doctor started, "to say the least, I'm amazed he's actually still alive. He's lost a lot of blood and it looks like his arm was broken, but it looks like it has already started to heal, and at a fast pace too. At this rate, I'll give him a month until his completely healed. Until then he'll have to wear this sling." the doctor brought the sling to Link and helped him get it on his arm.

"A month, eh?" Raphael thought out loud, "Why, that's just in time for Geom Hak-Gyo."

Link looked up at Raphael, dumbfounded, "_What?"_

"It's a sword-fighting school." Taki explained, "Children at the age of ten enter and practice with other children on their skill level to learn to to excel at their weapon of choice. We've noticed you a lot of items with you like a sword, shield, a bag of bombs, a slingshot, some kind of flute-"

"My Ocarina!" Link exclaimed, realizing his sword, shield, and Adventure Pouch were all gone. "Where are all my items!?"

"Relax." said the doctor, "We took all your belongings. Don't worry, you'll get

them back when you leave."

"Which you won't have to wait too long for." Mitsurugi cut in, "the King would like to have a word with you."

"The King!?" Link repeated in shock. _Maybe _he _knows what's going on. _Link thought, thinking he meant the king of Hyrule. As Link got out of bed, Mitsurugi looked over at his companions, silently telling them, and Talim, to come along.

They all left the Healing Tent and got Link all his items back, except for his bombs which were confiscated and immediately destroyed, and made their way to the castle. On the way, Link stared at his Fairy Ocarina as he held it in his hands. He had gotten the Ocarina from Saria for his ninth birthday nearly seven months ago. Link's thoughts were now focused on Saria and how he noticed he hadn't seen her the last time he was in the Kokiri Forest. Was she alive and safe? Or did he just not see her bloodied carcass while he was running for his life? He now regretted not looking for his best friend, just as he regretted leaving the pregnant woman that had protected him at the mercy of the man-eating savages. Not that he knew what pregnant meant, anyway. Link looked up from his Ocarina to look at the huge, towering castle. It was far taller and wider than Hyrule Castle. _How long was I out for? _Link thought, thinking he was still in Hyrule. He looked around at the houses and shops in wonder as he walked. But then, Link finally noticed the people around. The were dressed differently from anyone he usually saw and, now that he thought about it, so were the people he was walking with. But more importantly, he noticed the cold stares he was getting. Now more cautious, Link moved closer to the three adults who saw everything and almost sighed simultaneously in pity. Talim, however, was just as confused as Link was upon finally noticing this.

The very same thing happened inside the castle only some people looked at Link in surprise. The resentful looks were less noticeable, but they were still there. However this did nothing to ease Link's creeping suspicions which were confirmed as he entered the throne room: he was no longer in Hyrule.

"This is him, I assume?" the King asked.

"Yes." Raphael confirmed as he, Taki, and Mitsurugi kneeled and Talim stood outside the door, as Taki had instructed. The King looked at Link for a few moments before Link returned his look of confusion. A few moments later, everyone in the room was staring at him.

"Why's everybody staring at me?" Link asked, finally.

"You _do _know that you're in the presence of royalty, right?" the King asked.

"...So?"

"Get down on one knee." Taki whispered to Link.

"Oh!" Link got down on one knee, as instructed, and heard a girly giggle come from the other side of the room. A few moments later, as the King studied him, Link looked over at the five individuals in the other side of the room. First, ignoring the King, he looked over at the person seated to his left. It was a young girl, who looked only a few years older than, Link with brown hair and brown eyes and wore what appeared to be slightly reveaing white armor and blue pants when As Link looked at her, she gave him a warm smile. To her right stood a young-looking man with blue hair and blue eyes, wearing a light blue tunic, matching chest armor, and a dark blue cape with a sword sheathed to his left. At the King's right, there was a young boy not too much older than Link who seemed to be lost in thought, and to _his _right, was a tall, darker-skinned man who wore green and white with a white hood and carried a big scythe in his right hand.

"I'm not sure if you know by now," the King started, "but you've been brought here for questioning. But first, since you probably don't know what's going on, allow me to fill you in on everything. This place you're in now, is a kingdom not at all too far away from Hyrule, but connected only by the mystical forest known as the Lost Woods. This kingdom you've found yourself in now goes by many names. But since its founding, it is known by many people as the Chai Dynasty." Link's vision shifted toward the floor. _I was right,_ Link thought, _This isn't Hyrule. _"Now," the King continued, "I'm sure you noticed the cold stares you've been getting." Link looked up at the King in sudden interest. "I doubt you've heard about it, but almost a decade ago, the races of Hyrule were engaged in war. During the war, much blood was shed and many lives were lost for the sole purpose of gaining the Ultimate Power that is said to rest somewhere in Hyrule. You see, the people of this kingdom are taught to think very negatively of war and, as a result, look down on people who start it. Especially for something as materialistic as power; in this case, Hylians. Unfortunately, many of my people lack the common sense to know not to feel this way towards a Hylian child. On their behalf, I apologize for that."

"You sure know a lot about Hyrule." Link noted.

"As king, it is required by the standards of this kingdom to be very knowledgeable of other kingdoms and their history for future use of such knowledge."

Link waited a moment before speaking, "Oh... But... I'm not a Hylian; I'm a Kokiri."

The King looked at each of the two men standing at his far sides before responding. "Sure you are... Anyway, the three that brought you here think that your home kingdom is beyond any help this kingdom's capable of. In order to confirm this, I'd like for you to tell me what you saw as you escaped Hyrule."

Link hesitantly told the King about everything that happened, and appeared to be very shaken up about having to recall all that happened in just the last twenty-four hours, earning a look of pity and concern from the young girl sitting at the King's left. "I see." he said as Link finished, "No person, let alone a young child, should ever have to go through that. And the fact you managed to run so far for so long even impresses me. So-"

"I have to go back!" Link cut in, surprising everyone in the room.

"...Excuse me?"

"I... I have to go back! I have friends who are still in danger and I-"

"There's nothing you can do." the King said flatly, "By the time you were found, the events you just informed me of had already happened about twenty-four hours ago." Link stared at the floor in grief as the King continued, "Beleive me when I say I know more than anyone here what it's like to loose a friend. But the logical thing to do here is to wait. Now, I'll send someone to check on Hyrule, but you have to sit tight and wait. Am I understood?"

Link could only nod his head in defeat as guilt continued to grip his consciousness.

"Now, about where you'll be staying... there's a unoccupied house a little ways south of this castle. You can stay there for now, but it'll take a day to prepare it for you. Until then, Taki will be watching over you."

"_What!?" _Taki exclaimed as her head rose quickly to meet the King.

"That's an order." he said firmly to Taki. "Now... before I leave you to her care for the day, there are... other matters to attend to." Link looked at the King with a confused expression when just then, his stomach growled loudly, followed by another girly giggle. "You seem to be hungry. I'll have someone take you to get something to eat and take you to Taki's house.

"I'll do it." said the young girl seated at the King's left.

"You, Xianghua?" the King asked.

"Yep! I'll take him out to eat."

"...Very well. You'd best be on your best behavior." he said to Link, "It's not everyday you get to eat out with the princess." this immediately caused Link to remember his own princess, Princess Zelda, who he rescued the second time he left the Kokiri Forest. As Link turned to look at Xianghua, the King noticed something about him.

"Hey... what's your name, anyway?" he asked.

"It's Link." he answered, earning a look of extreme shock from the King.

"Alright, let's go!" Xianghua jumped up, ran over to Link, grabbed his hand, and ran straight out the door, and past Talim.

_To be continued!_

**Author's Note: For anyone wanting to know why, the kingdom they are in is called "Chai Dynasty", it's because I was originally going to have Xianghua be ruler, but decided to have a lot of the characters younger to leave room for character development and make introducing more characters easier. Not to mention it'll build up for everything that will happen later when they're older which will have many elements from **_**Soul Calibur **_**and the **_**Zelda **_**series in it. So really, it goes without saying that this will be a long story.**

_On the next chapter of The Legend of Zelda: Tale of Souls_

"In Hyrule, there exists a legend that tells of a young boy that saves the kingdom in many different eras. The majority of these heroes were left-handed, they wore that exact same garb, and all their names were Link."

"So you think..."

"Yes. His coming here most likely wasn't by chance. Someday... he may save this kingdom."

Chapter 4: Speculation


	5. Speculation

Chapter 4: Speculation

As soon as the room cleared, the King's expression became much more serious. "What is it, Your Majesty?" asked the blue-haired man.

"Did you notice something about that boy?" he asked.

"No... should I have?"

"Yes. The green tunic he's wearing... and his name."

"There's also the position of the sheathed blade on his back that suggests he's left handed." said the darker-skinned man.

"Zasalamel's right." stated the King.

"But what does that have to do with anything?" the blue-haired man asked. The King closed his eyes thoughtfully, as he recalled the tale.

"In Hyrule, there exists a legend that tells of a boy who, once in an era, saves Hyrule from the evil forces who lust for the Ultimate Power that is said to be hidden somewhere in the kingdom. The thing about all of them is, they all wore nearly identical tunics, most of them were left-handed, and, most of all, all their names were Link."

"So... what you're saying is..."

"Yes, Marth. It's only a theory, but I think his coming here was not mere coincidence."

Meanwhile, Xianghua, who was happy to finally be out of the castle, led Link through town by the hand. "You look down." she noted, finally looking back at him, "C'mon, lighten up!"

"How can I lighten up when my friends might be dead." Link muttered bitterly. "You just don't understand." Hearing this, Xianghua gave a frown of pity and faced forward. But after a moment it loosened up as she spoke again.

"You're right; I _don't _understand. But we can't dwell on these feelings forever...

You never know, maybe at least _one _of your friends made it out just like you did... Besides,"She turned and gave Link a warm smile, "food tastes a lot better when you're in a good mood." After he heard this, Link was filled with much-needed hope and he returned Xianghua's contagious smile as he thought about his friends. Could Saria, as unlikely as it would be, have escaped from the flesh eating beasts that had attacked Hyrule? As soon as Link had this thought, he then thought about Malon and her father, but notably thought nothing about Mr. Ingo, the rude worker at Lon Lon Ranch. He didn't know if he really saw it or not, but as he ran, he remembered seeing a horse galloping away with only one person on it. What could have occured for that to happen? As Link pondered over this, he failed to notice that Xianghua had came to a stop in front of a fancy-looking building. "We're here." Xianghua announced prompting Link to look up at the structure.

"What is this place?" he asked.

"It's a restaurant my family ate at once."

"Your... family? What're they like?"

"Well," Xianghua started with a chuckle, "I don't actually remember it. I was only two at the time. My dad actually told me about it."

"Oh..."

"Well?" Xianghua chuckled again, "Don't just stand there; that food isn't gonna eat itself!" With that, Xianghua took Link's hand again and, still wary of his broken arm, led him inside where they sat at a table. After a minute, Link looked over at Xianghua, confused

"Don't we order?" he asked.

"What?" Xianghua asked with yet another chuckle, "No! We sit at at table and wait for soneone to bring our food."

"Huh." As Link looked around, he saw that there were fancy decorations all over the place. Just then a man came to the table with two big bowls of soup and and two cups full of water. "What _is _this?" Link asked, pointing at the soup.

"What's it look like?" Xianghua asked teasingly, "It's chicken soup."

"What's a chicken?"

"You... don't know what a chicken is?"

"No. I don't think we have those in Hyrule."

"Oh. Well, it's really good; you should try it." Link hesitantly put the strange food on a spoon and into his mouth. She was right; it _is _good. It wasn't long at all until Link hungrily wolfed down on the chicken soup. Xianghua stared at Link in amazement as she had more bowls of the soup brought to him. When Link was finally done, a man walked up to the table.

"You seem to have enjoyed your meal." he said, "But now we need to discuss payment." Link nervously felt for his Adventure Pouch to get some Rupees out, but Xianghua had another plan.

"My dad ordered me to take this boy out to eat. Therefore, I shouldn't have to pay."

"And you are..."

"Princess Chai Xianghua." she boasted, taking out a silver crown from a bag she had strapped to her and showed it to the worker.

"Oh! U-um... My apologies, Your Highness." he said, dropping to a knee and bowing his head.

"As you were." she said in an authoritative tone. As Link and Xianghua left the restaurant , Xianghua let out a giggle after looking down at Link.

"What's so funny?" Link asked.

"It's just..." she giggled again as she continued, "it's just that I've never seen such a little kid eat that much before."

"_Little!?" _Link repeated, outraged. "You're just a few inches taller than me!"

"But I'm older, so you're still little." Xianghua teased.

"I'M NO-" Link was interrupted by his own burp, causing Xianghua to burst into laughter.

"That wasn't funny!" Link yelled as he blushed in embarrassment.

"You're so adorable!" Xianghua teased again, playfully pinching Link's cheek.

"What's all the commotion?" a young, but masculine, voice asked jokingly.

Xianghua turned to see a boy her age with long blonde hair walking towards her. "Oh! Um, hi, Siegfried." Xianghua said, flustered.

"Hey, Xianghua." he answered. His attention then turned toward Link. "Hey, there. I haven't seen _you _around. Are you new here?"

"Yes, he is." Xianghua cut in, trying to bring Siegfried's attention back on her. "My dad had me take him out to eat."

Link looked up at Xianghua, "Wait, didn't you-" Link was cut of by a stiff nudge to the shoulder by Xianghua, which went unnoticed by Siegfried.

"Sooo..." she started, "I was just dropping him off, so do you wanna... you know, hang out when I'm done?"

"I can't; I have to get home. But we can tomorrow."

"Okay. See you then." As Siegfried walked away, Xianghua's eyes remained locked on him until she noticed Link looking up at her. "Um... let's get going." she said quickly as she led Link to their next destination.

"What!?" Marth said, shocked.

"That's right." the King confirmed, "I beleive that the attack on Hyrule may have been orchestrated by someone or some group."

"What makes you so sure?" Zasalamel asked.

"If the events Link told us happened exactly the way he's said it, then there's no way an attack of that scale could have been a coincidence."

"I see." Zasalamel mused, "So you feel there was a goal in mind that would require the mass extermination of the Hylian race."

"Yes. And whoever these people may be, we have to be prepared for if the same thing ever happened here. I'll send someone to check on Hyrule, but until then, we must be patient until we get some answers."

As they moved south to Taki's house, where Link would stay until his own home was ready, Xianghua noticed that Link had moved closer to her. Almost as if it were for protection. Confused, Xianghua followed his nervous gaze toward the many citizens moving past glaring at the young boy. Now, Xianghua pitied him even more. When they approached Taki's house, Xianghua knocked on the door and, after a few moments, it opened slightly, only revealing half the face of the kunoichi inside.

"Hi, Taki!" Xianghua greeted vibrantly.

"Hello." she answered, "I trust your father assigned you with the task of escorting that boy here."

"Uh-huh! So how've you been?"

"Good... if you'll excuse me, I have a young girl to watch over, so you can leave the boy here."

"Oh...okay. See you later, Link." Xianghua walked away and Taki looked down at the young boy she was assigned to look after for the day. She then looked at a group of people walking past with a resentful look on their face.

"Come in." Taki commanded. Link looked around as he stepped into the living room and saw that it was featureless except for a couch by a wall. "So I see you've noticed the way people have been looking at you." she said suddenly.

"...Yeah." Link replied with a saddened tone. They both stood in silence until Taki spoke again.

"Tell me," she started, looking through a window at the setting sun, "how is it that you can take resentment and act as if it doesn't affect you?"

Link looked toward the floor thoughtfully, "I don't know." he said after a moment. "But why would _you _need to know that?"

"Because," she said, finally looking down at Link, "with the exception of a few details, I'm in the same situation as you." Before Link could ask what she meant, he heard a small and barely audible voice.

"Teacher?" Link turned to see Talim, who stood on the other side of the room. _It's the boy from the Healing Tent. _she thought.

"You've come just in time for dinner." Taki told Link, ignoring Talim. "Come." Link followed them into a darkened room that was only lit by a few candles. Link and Talim sat at opposite ends of a wooden table and, as Taki left to get the food, there was an awkward silence between the two children. Link stared at the table, thinking about how he'll get back to Hyrule. Talim, however, on focused on Link and his troubled posture. Taki, who had just entered the room, almost chuckled at them as she laid plates on the table for the two.

"You aren't hungry?" she asked later as she daw Link not eating.

"No, I already ate." This promted Taki to remember how Xianghua had nearly dragged Link out of the King's throne room.

"That's right. I must have forgotten. Forgive me." Taki took Link's plate and poured the food onto Talim's plate, despite her not wanting any more. Talim and Taki ate in silence and Link continued to stare, deep in thought. "Perhaps you would like to learn more about this kingdom to pass the time." Link nodded. If he could learn more about this kingdom, then, perhaps, he could find a way back to Hyrule.

"Now," she began, "to learn about this kingdom effectively, you must first learn about its origins; about the very beginning."

_To be continued! _

_On the next chapter of The Legend of Zelda: Tale of Souls_

"At the very beginning," Taki began, "after the gods created Hyrule, it was said that they were satisfied with their work and created many more lands. This kingdom is just one of the hundreds of those lands they created. However, unlike most other countries this land was left barren with its many inhabitants merely wandering around,

_Chapter 5: History of the Chai Dynasty_


	6. History of the Chai Dynasty

**Author's Note: Because these next two chapters are pretty short, I decided to post them both simultaneously. **

_On the last chapter of The Legend of Zelda: Tale of Souls_

"Perhaps you would like to learn more about this kingdom to pass the time." Link nodded. If he could learn more about this kingdom, then, perhaps, he could find a way back to Hyrule.

"Now," she began, "to learn about this kingdom effectively, you must first learn about its origins... about the very beginning."

Chapter 5: History of the Chai Dynasty

"At the very beginning," Taki began, "after the gods created Hyrule, it was said that they were so satisfied with their work that they decided to created many more lands. This kingdom is just one of the hundreds of those lands they created. However, unlike most other countries, this land was left barren with its many inhabitants merely wandering around, forming alliances composed of a small number of people who helped each other survive in the harsh environment. However, the most successful alliances were the ones composed of people related to each other by blood who also happened to be many times more plentiful. One day, a piece of land was found that was serene and boasted the best environments for living out of anywhere else in the land. Many of the alliances wanted the land only for themselves and resorted to war to settle who would live there. After 7 years of violent bloodshed, most of the alliances, including young children traveling with them, were either wiped out entirely, or they withdrew from the battle. At that point, only four alliances, who happened to be the some of the groups that were related, remained. They were the Chai Family, my family- the Fu-Ma Clan, the Alexander Family, and..." Taki shot a brief, but noticeable glance at Talim, much to her confusion. "...Anyway, after 3 more years of fighting the four finally decided to truce and live on the land together with the Chai Family as their rulers. That land became known as the Chai Dynasty and the families are, to this day, called the Founding Families. And since that day, a new dating system was made exclusively for the residents of this kingdom to follow. You can see it on that calender behind you."

Link looked behind him to see some sort of book that had a lot of squares on it. At the top read "September" and below it, thirty of the squares were numbered. But even above the strange word, read "Year 992". "What does that mean?" Link asked, pointing up at "Year 992".

"That's how many years has passed since the kingdom was founded." Taki explained. "Today, this kingdom has prospered greatly since then. In addition to this city, there are four other major towns to the far north, west, east, and south along with some smaller villages scattered throughout the kingdom. However, though the kingdom prospered, the Founding Families found themselves at a serious predicament: they were going extinct and, to this day, their numbers are astonishingly low compared to the early days. At the time if the kingdom's founding, each family had at least a few thousand members, but most of them were destroyed in the era of great wars that almost immediately followed after this kingdom's founding. That era had only ended twelve years ago. Today, the royal family, the Chai Family, has but two braches of the family left. The Fu-Ma Clan, while still plentiful, have been taken from a few thousand to only a few hundred. And the Alexander Family currently has only seven living members left."

"What about the fourth family?" Talim asked. Taki responded by giving her a blank stare, before giving her answer

"I don't know." she lied. "Anyway, because of the era of wars that lasted almost one thousand years, most of the people living here has learned how to fight at some point in preparation for another such era. And, thanks to those times, the people of this kingdom has come to be many times more resilient than the standard human, and, despite taking heavy wounds, can still continue to battle." As Taki said this, a thought came to Link's mind.

"Back then," said Link, referring to when they were all in the Healing Tent, "there was a sword-fighting school the blonde-haired guy talked about."

You mean Kal Ssaum Haggyo?" Taki asked.

(Kal Ssaum Haggyo: Korean for "Sword Fighting School")

Link nodded his head in confirmation. "So," she said in an almost impressed tone, "I see you've taken interest in our customs after all... or rather..." she glanced at the sheathed sword on Link's back and remembered his outburst at the King.

_"I... I have to go back!"_

Taki chuckled to herself, "You hurt your arm while running in the forest, ensuring that you _can't _go back to Hyrule for the moment. And according to the doctor, your arm will not heal until next month, right when that school starts. These events seem to just be falling into place and, if you ask me, it's almost as if you're being guided." Hearing this, Link remembered back to when he heard the strange voice in his sleep. Perhaps it wasn't just a dream after all. "Tell me," Taki started, bringing Link out of his thoughts, "why is it that you want to enter sword fighting classes?" Link's hands balled into fists as the dying screams of all the people he felt he abandoned yesterday echoed through his mind.

"So I can go back to Hyrule... and never fail to protect anyone again!" Talim let out a sharp, but somehow unnoticed, gasp. She had just sensed a different power inside Link the moment he spoke his ambition. But it was gone as quickly as it came.

"Perhaps you could ask the King about it tomorrow." Taki suggested, "But now," she said, noticing the thickening darkness of night that fell outside, "it's time for you two to get some sleep."

After everyone left the table, Talim went to a room in the back, and Link , as instructed by Taki, slept on the couch in the almost empty living room. Link peered through the window and through the thick darkness of night at the full moon and, on it, he swore he saw he faces of the people he felt he let die just a day ago. To think that in just a twenty-four hour period, he went from leisurely drinking Lon Lon Milk on his way to Castle Town, to witnessing a massacre, being forced to another kingdom, and meeting all kinds of strange people. _Never again. _he vowed,_ I'll _never _let anyone die again. Not when I can protect them._

_To be continued!_

**Author's Note: I know that, in an earlier chapter, I had gotten the Korean words for "Sword Fighting School" wrong (my mistake!).**

_Next chapter: Common Struggle_


	7. Common Struggle

_On the last chapter of The Legend of Zelda: Tale of Souls_

After everyone left the table, Talim went to a room in the back, and Link , as instructed by Taki, slept on the couch in the almost empty living room. Link peered through the window and through the thick darkness of night at the full moon and, on it, he swore he saw he faces of the people he felt he let die just a day ago. To think that in just a twenty-four hour period, he went from leisurely drinking Lon Lon Milk on his way to Castle Town, to witnessing a massacre, being forced to another kingdom, and meeting all kinds of strange people. _Never again. _he vowed,_ I'll _never _let anyone die again. Not when I can protect them._

Chapter 6: Common Struggle

Link must have lied on the couch for hours. Despite everything that had happened that day, Link couldn't bring himself to even close his eyes. Everytime he did, he could only see the blood-stained grass of the fields of Hyrule. For the past forty minutes, he tried desperately to fight back the pressing tears stemming from the guilt of letting so many people die that felt as if it tore away at his very soul. When Link finally grew weary of his emotional torture, he sat up and looked around and saw that the wooden house was still just barely lit up by the few candles scattered around the house. He then thought that further exploration of the house could take his mind off of his torturous thoughts. But then he thought of what Taki would do if she caught him walking through her house, before he came to a sudden realisation: in Hyrule, he would walk into any person's home and walk around, so what would be the difference if he did the same here?

Making up his mind, Link decided to explore the rest of the house. However, he could barely see anything amidst the darkness of the house. In frustration, Link sighed and threw his head back when he saw it: light. It wasn't a bright light but rather light reflected from the moon. There was also a ladder that led up to the opening in the ceiling. Before he knew it, Link found himself climbing the ladder, curious about what was up there. When he neared the top, he peered through the opening and found that he was on the roof. Without a word, Link moved toward the front part of the ceiling and sat with his feet dangling over the edge. He looked up at the night sky and saw that this particular spot had a great view of the stars that glistened in the night sky. Seeing this, he thought back to the last time he and Saria met at the Sacred Forest Meadow. Back then, they looked into the sky and she told him that she had a feeling something like this would happen, and when it did, and they happened to get separated, they both could take solace in the fact that, despite their distance apart,they could still look up at the same sky. Remembering this, Link let out a sigh of emotional pain.

"Stargazing makes you feel better too, doesn't it?"

Link let out a startled yelp as he jumped up from his seated position and looked quickly to his right to see Talim seated a foot and a half away. "Hey, uh... how long have _you_ been there?"

"About thirty minutes."

Link paused for a moment before retaking his spot next to Talim. After a whole minute of silence, Talim finally spoke to him. "I'm sorry about what happened to you." Link looked at her, realizing she was referring to everything that happened over the past day.

"...It's okay." he replied. After yet another moment of silence, Talim spoke again.

"You must feel out of place here, don't you?"

"...What do you mean?" Link asked.

"I saw how uncomfortable you looked when we were walking to the castle and while we were eating." Link silently thought about all the hatefull glares he received all day, and didn't reply. "It must hurt... feeling like you don't belong here."

"How do _you _know?" Link asked, genuinely curious.

"Because I feel the same way..."

"You... you do?"

"Yes... for as long as I can remember, other people my age made fun of me because I was different."

"...What's so different about you?"

Talim looked at Link as she hesitantly told him. "I... I have the ability to read and control the wind." Talim looked down at her feet as she nervously awaited Link's response.

"Really!?" Link blurted out with newfound enthusiasm.

"Yes but I-"

"Show me!"

"O-okay, but I haven't mastered yet." Talim concentrated and, after a moment, Link felt a tiny breeze run through his hair.

"That's so cool!" Link exclaimed.

Talim stared at him, shocked. "You... don't think I'm weird or anything?"

"Are you kidding? I wish I could do that!" Talim stared at Link in disbelief as he went on about how cool Talim's unique ability is. "Does your mom know?" Link asked suddenly.

"My... mom?"

"Yeah, that lady with the long hair."

Talim sighed as she figured out that Link was talking about Taki, who she was in no way related to aside from a teacher-student relationship. "She isn't my mom, she's my teacher." she explained.

"Oh... well, where's your mom?"

"I... don't have a mom."

"...Or a dad?"

"No..." And with that, for the first time, Link felt sorry for someone other than himself. Back home, the Kokiri was the closest thing to a family Link had. And there was no question that the Great Deku Tree was like a father to him despite the fact that Link rarely spoke to the tree spirit. "You must've lost your parents too did you? That must-"

"Actually," Link cut in, "I've never met my parents either." Talim looked at Link, who now stared at his feet, in amazement. Here she was, thinking she was the only one in her situation, but now, she was here talking to a someone who, not only understands her feelings, but doesn't think negatively of her for claiming to have the ability to read and control the wind. For the first time she could remember, she let out a smile. Not because of Link's situation, but because there was someone who understood her.

"Where you're from," Talim started, "what it is it like there?" Before responding, Link looked around at the barely lit town.

"To be honest, I really haven't seen much there. But this place has a lot more than Hyrule did."

"Hyrule..." Talim repeated to herself as she looked toward the sky again. "Can I... ask you something?"

"Sure."

Talim's big blue eyes remained locked onto the stars above as she went on, "Have you ever wondered what's out there? Outside the comfort of your the place you call home?" Link looked over at her without answering her question. "Someday," she continued, "I would like to leave this city. And see the world with my own eyes, instead of wondering what it's like when Teacher tells me stories of other places." After another moment, Talim looked at Link, finally noticing his ears, but decided not to say anything about them and instead asked another question, "What was life like in... Hyrule?" she asked suddenly. Link's head quickly turned toward her to look at Talim as he finally saw her smile as she looked at him expectedly.

Link's life at the Kokiri Forest was personal to him, and he usually would never tell anyone else about it in fear of harsh criticism or another form of negative judgement. But when he met eyes with Talim, he didn't know why, but he felt like he could trust her with anything, including the knowledge of Link's now former life. And as he looked into the night sky, he recalled his last days in the Kokiri Forest.

_To be continued! _

**Author's Note: The next few chapters will be centered around Link's last days in the Kokiri Forest and the chapters after that will tell about Talim's backstory.**

_On the next chapter of The Legend of Zelda: Tale of Souls_

_In the vast, deep forest of Hyrule... Long have I served as the guardian spirit... I am known as the Deku Tree. The children of the forest, the Kokiri, live here with me. Each Kokiri has his or her own guardian fairy. However, there is one boy who does not have a fairy..._

Chapter 7: The Kokiri With No Fairy


	8. The Kokiri With No Fairy

_On the last chapter of The Legend of Zelda: Tale of Souls_

"What was life like in... Hyrule?" she asked suddenly. Link head quickly turned toward her to look at Talim as he finally saw her smile as she looked at him expectedly.

Link's life at the Kokiri Forest was personal to him, and he usually would never tell anyone else about it in fear of harsh criticism or another form of negative judgement. But when he met eyes with Talim, he didn't know why, but he felt like he could trust her with anything, including the knowledge of Link's now former life. And as he looked into the night sky, he recalled his last days in the Kokiri Forest.

Chapter 7: The Kokiri With No Fairy

_In the vast, deep forest of Hyrule... Long have I served as the guardian spirit... I am known as the Deku Tree. The children of the forest, the Kokiri, live here with me. Each Kokiri has his or her own guardian fairy. However, there is one boy who does not have a fairy..._

_ 1 month ago_

As Link looked around, he found that he was in a barren area where all he saw as he looked around was black. _What is this place? _Link thought, finding that he couldn't speak. After a moment, a blinding light flashed right in front of him, and, when he opened his eyes, he saw three golden triangles, all of which were glowing with an otherworldly golden light. But before Link cound wonder what they were, he felt an evil presence behind him. When he turned around, he saw a tall object manifest before him. Upon a second glance, he found it was a sword. But what separated this sword from the one Link found in the Training Ground a while ago, is that this one was not only taller in appearance, but had many menacing features. The blunt side of the blade appeared to have flesh on it and the hilt and the entirety of the blade glistened with an ominous red glow. But what startled Link the most, was the eye at its center, which appeared to look straight at Link.

_"Link..." _it said with a whisper. Link could only stand there, motionless and wide-eyedas the blafe seemed to speak to him. _"Link." _it repeated louder. As it spoke, Link started to have a harder time breathing. _"Link!" _At this point, Link found he couldn't breath at all, and began to panic. _"Your power shall be mine!" _it yelled before repeating his name numerous times in the same tone. As it did, Link's surroundings turned white with the sword, and the triangles, vanishing from Link's view. And even though Link could still hear his name being called out, voice changed to a higher, worried, and much more feminine voice.

"Link! Wake up!" the voice called. With his eyes still closed, Link shot up to a sitting position on his bed, feeling a blunt impact on his forehead as he did so. "Ow!" the voice whined as Link finally opened his eyes. "Gosh, Link, you really _are _hard-headed." Link looked over at the source of the voice and saw a girl, who appeared to be his age, on the floor, rubbing her head. She had bright, blue eyes, green hair kept in place by a headband which, at first glance was barely noticeable, and a tunic just like Link's but was long-sleeved.

"Sorry, Saria." Link said.

"You looked like you were having a nightmare." she noted, standing up, "Are you okay?"

Link took a few minutes to tell her about the strange dream he had, and asked what what she thought it meant.

"It _does _sound weird," she admitted, "but I haven't the slightest clue of what it could mean... Maybe the Great Deku Tree knows."

The Great Deku Tree was not only the guardian spirit of the forest, but he was also the wisest being Link knew. There was no doubt in his mind that he could decode whatever message the dream was possibly trying to pass to him. They left Link's house, and moved through the peaceful village in silence, appreciating the serenity of the early forest mornings. They approached the Great Deku Tree, and told him of Link's dream. What bothered them, though, was that for the first time, the Deku Tree actually seemed to be at a loss for words.

"That is, indeed, a very strange dream." he said, finally. "I must admit that I know nothing of the mysterious sword that appeared before you. But the _other _element of your dream, however, is in my knowledge."

"You mean those triangles, right?" Link asked, "What are they?"

"Alas, it is not time for you to learn of that yet."

Disappointed, Link went with Saria back to the village, when Saria took note of his expression. "Hey," she said, putting a consoling hand on his shoulder, "don't look so down. Maybe it was just a dream."

"Yeah... I guess." Link muttered in response.

"Maybe you'll feel better after we eat breakfast. C'mon!" Saria grabbed Link's hand and walked him around the village, in search of food. Usually, their meals would consist of fruits and nuts, but sometimes, if they're lucky, they manage to catch a fish from the small body of water by the village's shop. "So," she bagan, "have you been practicing with that sword you found?"

"No." Link replied, "I'm not really all that into swords. I'm just keeping it as a souvenir."

"Oh."

"Besides, I've never really had to use a sword, so what's the point?"

"I guess that's true." Saria agreed with a chuckle.

The two searched almost every reachable area and found nothing except for berries that weren't ready to be eaten yet. And so, Link came up with an idea.

"Let's check in the Lost Woods."

"What!?" Saria blurted out.

"C'mon, Saria! Nobody ever goes through there. There's probably a tonof food there!"

"Oh, alright." Saria relented, "Just-"

"Race you there!" Link bolted toward the entrance to the Lost Woods, but was stopped by Saria when she managed to catch up to him.

"Link!" she scolded, "You _have_ to be careful! You know you aren't allowed in there without someone with you; you don't have a fair-" Saria caught herself, but it was too late; the damage had already been done. Link had always been the only Kokiri in the forest who didn't have a fairy, and was often made fun of because of it by some of the other villagers. He had asked the Great Deku Tree about it on numerous occasions, but he would always tell him "When the time comes." And because he didn't have a fairy, he was not, under any circumstances, allowed into the Lost Woods since having a fairy was the only thing that kept the Kokiri from getting hopelessly lost in the woods, and turning into a Stalfos, an unrecognizable, walking skeleton.

Link and Saria, who shared no more words with each other, had a very easy time finding food, and grabbed as many fruits, nuts, and safe-to-eat vegetation they could carry, and found themselves headed toward the Sacred Forest Meadow, a place Saria had found and only told Link about and met with him there occasionally. But something was wrong.

"Wait!" Saria called for Link in a hushed voice.

"What's wrong?" asked Link in the same tone.

"Something isn't right... I feel like something's... off."

"What do you mean?"

"I..." Saria's voice was now lowered to where it was barely audible to even Link, who was right next to her. "...I feel like we're being watched."

"You don't think the other Kokiri are following us, do you?"

"No... I don't think it's any of them... I think... it's an Outsider."

Every so often, someone from outside the forest would wander into the sacred woods. Usually, it is a representative from the king of Hyrule who would come to meet with the Deku Tree, but whenever it's someone who poses a threat, the Deku Tree would make sure they are out of the forest immediately. Saria, along with every other Kokiri, have come to label them as "Outsider".

"But..." Link said as he looked around, "I don't see anyone. Maybe it's just a case of the nerves."

"I hope you're right." Saria said as she started walking again.

Link and Saria made it to the Sacred Forest Meadow and set their food down on, what Saria calls, her "favorite stump" and sat on opposite sides as they ate and conversed on any random topic. As most of their meal was eaten off the makeshift plate, Saria gave a solemn look up at the structure towering above them.

"What is it?" Link asked upon noticing this.

"Have you ever wondered what this place was made for?" she asked.

"...No, not really. Have you?"

Saria slowly nodded, still eying the structure before turning her attention to Link. "I feel that someday... we'll have some purpose to serve here. And when the time comes, it'll be very important to the both of us."

Link looked up at the structure, and then at the tree that hung over it. "Why wait?" he asked rhetorically, rising to his feet.

"You don't really think you're gonna go in there, do you?" Saria asked with a chuckle.

"Yeah! I just have to climb that that tr- WOAH!" Link was cut off as he tripped over a root and, with his hands, landed on the rest of his berries, getting juice all over them. "Aaww." he groaned before giving Saria an unnoticed, mischievous glance.

"I doubt _you _can climb that." Saria giggled, looking up at the tree. "Knowing you, you'd probably just slide down when you're halfway up." Saria's vision remained focused on the tree until a nervous feeling overcame her. "Link..." she said slowly, still looking at the tree, "I'm getting that feeling again." She finally shifted her vision off the tree and towards the other side of the stood where Link is... or was. "Link?" she nervously called, looking around. "Link!" she repeated before hearing a twig snap behind the tree. Saria quickly looked over at the tree wide-eyed and held her breath as she waited for whatever it was come pop out. "...Link?" Saria slowly moved over to the tree, careful not to make a sound when-

"AH!"

A figure barely shorter than her jumped out from behind the tree and ran at Saria. Saria let out a terrified shriek as she fell backwards onto her bottom. The figure saw the horrified expression on her face and stopped immediately.

"Saria! It's me!" it said, wiping what appeared to be jelly off its face.

"Link!" Saria shouted angrily. "Why would you do that!? You almost gave me a heart attack!"

"...I thought you'd think it would be funny..." Link replied sheepishly. "I didn't mean to..." Link turned away in guilt. Saria sighed before giving Link her own mischievous look and leaped forward onto Link, bringing him with her to the ground. After a somewhat playful scuffle, Saria, who ended up on top, pinned Link's wrists to the ground and giggled at his failed attempt to beeak free.

"Did I scare you?" Saria asked, leaning forward with a show off-y expression.

Link tried to break free again before answering, "A little..." he answered before switching to a joking tone, "...but at least I didn't almost have a heart attack." Saria rose up in her seated position before bursting into laughter which was quickly followed by Link. As they stopped laughing, they stared deeply into each other's eyes for what seemed like forever and blushed. Saria was the first to react as she leaned forward and released her grip on Link's wrist and saw that Link made no more attempts to escape their position. She gently placed her hands on Link's red cheeks, and brought her lips in closer... and closer... and closer...

_AROOOOOO!_

Link quickly rose into a seated position. "What was _that _!?" he asked, startled.

"I-I don't know..." Saria stammered.

Just then, two wolf-like creatures jumped down from the tree and began circling the two.

Saria held on to Link, frightened. "Saria." Link whispered. Saria gave no response, but looked at Link with a fearful expression. "When I say run, we run." Saria nodded as she rose from Link's lap. The creatures bolted forward and Link grabbed Saria's hand, "RUN!" he yelled. Link and Saria rushed out of the meadow, and up a ladder which led to a shortcut back to the woods. Link looked back to see that the monsters were still chasing them.

"Link," Saria called to him in a shaky voice, "we can't lead them back to the village!"

"Then what do we do!?"

"We have to loose them here! Don't worry, we can use my fairy to lead us back!"

"Oka-"

"LINK!"

Before either of them could react, one of the creatures jumped onto Saria from behind. Without thinking, Link ran up to the beast and kicked it on the head, barely fazing it, but stunning it enough to retrieve Saria, but they weren't quick enough to escape the second monster, who leaped onto Saria and sank its teeth into her ankle. As Saria shrieked in pain, Link pulled up some grass and kicked into the eyes of the monsters.

"Here!" Link held out his hand and, as Saria took it, helped her onto his back and ran for a hiding place behind a boulder since he wasn't moving fast at all. Link set her down and watched in guilt as Saria held her bleeding ankle sobbed quietly in pain. "...I'm sorry." he whispered.

Saria looked at Link, wiping her tears away. "Link..."

"I shouldn't have suggested we get food from here. It's all my-"

Link was cut off by a consoling embrace from Saria. "Don't beat yourself up over this. It's not your fault." Before either of them could say anything else, their pursuers were upon them.

"Can you walk?"

"Yes, but it hurts."

Link looked out at the monsters again before his next idea formed, "I'll distract them."

"What? No! They're too fast! And you might get lost without a fairy! Their _has _to be another way."

"If they find us, they'll hurt you even more, along with me... Better one of us than both... Don't worry- I promise I'll be back.

Saria looked at Link with worried eyes before finally giving in, knowing that when it came to situations like this, there was no arguing with Link. "Okay... but _please_ be careful."

Link nodded and ran out from behind the boulder, immediately alerting the beasts, and led them away. He haphazardly made several turns throughout the woods thinking only about leading the beasts away from Saria so she could get home safely. As he ran, he tripped over a branch and didn't have any time to react before the beasts were upon him.

But what happened next defied any explanation.

What appeared to be a yellow-ish, red barrier with diamond-like shapes moving across it, blocked the monsters. Without staying to think about what it was, Link turned and ran again towards an opening and, before he knew it, he had entered a field of grass.

_To be continued! _

Next Chapter: Cheating Death?


	9. Cheating Death?

**Author's Note: Starting with this chapter, I will begin putting key words in bold. This WILL NOT signify a change in tone of voice. For anyone who doesn't know, this is an element from most games in the **_**Zelda**_** series that is used whenever they want to give you a hint.**

**On another note, I will put an **_**Omake **_**(or at least try to) in this chapter (this the the first time I've ever done this, so please bear with me!).**

Chapter 9: Cheating Death?

As Link continued his story, Talim listened closely. "This 'Saria' seems very special to you." she noted out loud when Link paused his story.

Link looked at her. "Yeah," he confirmed, "I guess she is."

As he said this, Talim stared forward thoughtfully as Link continued his story.

Link's mind was completely blank as he stared out into the spacious field before him. He turned toward the entry point the return to the forest, only to see it blocked off by the same **barrier **that had saved him from the monsters. Link walked up to the barrier and placed his hand on the surface. Oddly enough, the barrier felt as fragile as glass, but no matter how much force he exerted when he struck the barrier, it remained unaffected. Seeing that he was getting nowhere, he finally gave up and looked toward the open field once again. As his thoughts finally caught up to him, he found he had no clear understanding of his situation, which made him afraid.

He stood there for the better part of an hour, desparately trying to gain a clear understanding of the situation at hand, but with his young, naive mind, that was much easier said than done. But what he did understand was this: Saria could still be in danger, and the only visible reentry point to the forest was blocked, so he had to venture into the unknown plains ahead to find a way back to the forest.

Link moved out into the field and moved along the rock wall so it would be easier to find a way home. In the hours he spent traversing the field, Link saw that the it was mostly featureless save for the rock formation near the center with a white house inside that towered over it**.** Further ahead, he could see **a towering mountain, **and **a body of water **that flowed down an almost linear path. It was just then, that with his hand, he felt something other than stone.

He felt wood.

Link immediately looked at his hand and saw that it now rested on a tree. And next to the tree, there was an opening to the wall. As Link walked into the opening, his heart skipped a beat when he saw a familiar bridge after making a left turn. It was at this point, that Link's shallow, nervous steps quickened into an all out sprint, and before he knew it, he was back home.

Never before had Link been so happy to breath the forest air. He had only been away for a few hours, but to him it felt like an eternity. As happy as he was, however, his mood took a turn for the worse when he remembered: "Saria!"

"Link." called a young voice. Link turned to see a Kokiri boy standing next to the entrance, which Link just ran through. "How'd you get to the bridge without me seeing you?" he asked before his tone shifted to an almost dreadful one, "You didn't... leave the forest... did you?"

"There's no time for that!" Link exclaimed, "Where's Saria!?"

"She went to the Great Deku Tree a few hours ago. She looked pretty hurt."

Without another word, Link bolted through the village toward the Deku Tree's location. As he approached the tree spirit, he saw Saria seated near the tree's trunk.

"Saria!" Link called as he jogged up to her.

Saria looked up at the boy, and even though she didn't say anything, her expression told him more than her words ever could. When they met, they held each other in a long-lasting embrace. "I was so worried about you..." she told him.

"I was worried about you, too." Link said back.

As they separated, Saria's grateful expression turned in to one of confusion. "...How did you find your way back?" she asked.

Link then told Saria about how he found his way back into the forest which actually saved him from the fate of all creatures who wander into the forest: the transformation into a Stalfos or a Skull Kid. The Deku Tree, who silently listened to their conversation was not at all surprised that Link was able to leave the forest, though more than the exact opposite could be said about Saria.

"Link..." she began with a dreaded voice, "...you _left _the _forest?"_

Link nervously looked up at the Deku Tree, then at Saria before answering. "Yes..." Saria let out a loud gasp after hearing this. "Was I not supposed to?"

"No," she answered, "you're supposed to be dead."

_Omake 1-1: The King's stubbornness._

As the moonlight made its way into the castle hallways through the windows, Xianghua moved sleepily through the hallway, ready to finally get some sleep... until she heard her father's voice.

_"DAMN IT!"_

Startled, Xianghua ran into the throne room. "Dad! I thought I heard-" she cut herself off when she saw the King and Zasalamel practicing archery.

"Good evening, Your Highness." Marth, who stood by a giant target, called.

"Your father is trying to get a bullseye." Zasalamel explained. "We've been here since you left with that Hylian boy."

Xianghua watched as her father missed the bullseye yet again. "You guys are practicing archery... with _real _arrows... _inside _the castle? What if you break a window?"

"Shh!" the King cut her off as he carefully aimed at the target, but after yet another miss, Marth gave an audible sigh.

"Perhaps you're just tired, Your Majesty." he suggested, "You may have better luck after a good night's sleep."

The King gave Marth a comical look of annoyance. "No! I'm not leaving until I get a _perfect _bullseye!" The King aimed again, but as he fired, his finger slipped, gravely affecting the trajectory of the arrow, sending it through a window.

"Ow!" yelled a distant man. "What the _hell, _man!? It's two in the morning!"

The King looked out the window, then at Marth. "Uh... maybe I _do _need some sleep."

_End of Omake_

_"Dead!?" _Link repeated.

Saria solemnly nodded, "Yes. We Kokiri die when they leave the forest."

"Then... why am I still alive?"

"We can address the matter at a later time." the Deku Tree cut in, "There is something I would like to speak with thou about."

"What is it?" Link asked.

"'Tis highly improbable for a simple beast to make their way around in the Lost Woods. That leads me to suspect **someone** hast led them to this forest... and to thou."

Both Link and Saria gave a shocked reaction. "But..." Link began, "...why would someone send monsters after _me?"_

The Deku Tree was silent for a moment. "...I doth not know." he lied.

As Link and the Deku Tree finished conversing, though, Saria felt it again: She felt as if **they were being watched.**

"Aren't you coming, Saria?" Link asked, interrupting her thoughts.

"Um... my ankle." Saria answered.

At Saria's request, Link carried her on his back to the village. Saria let out a lively giggle as she wrapped her arms around Link. "What's so funny?" Link asked.

"Oh, um... nothing."

They went to Saria's house, where they where they talked and laughed about many topics until the sun went down, and Link went home. The only thing on his mind right now was the vast world he saw outside the forest. After much consideration, Link came to a decision: he would leave the forest again tomorrow. Of course, he wouldn't tell Saria. At least not until he got back.

Early the next morning, Link stood on the bridge the the outside world. With his Kokiri Sword, and his newly-acquired Deku Shield, which he bought at the local store. After a deep breath, Link took his first intentional step outside the forest.

As Link traversed the field, the first place he decided to go was the **tall house surrounded by the rock formation. **It took Link a half-hour to get to his destination. Link circled the rock formation and saw there was only one opening. Link entered, wondering what was inside.

Inside, there was a narrow path between the tall white house Link had already seen, and some kind of shorter, wooden structure that he heard many strange noises coming from. But one noise he heard, however, was not nearly as strange as the others.

He heard singing.

A melodious tone rang out from just ahead. It sounded like a young girl's voice and Link thought it sounded nothing less than angelic. Without thinking, he began to move toward the voice, curious of what it may be. He entered a clearing, and in it, strange, four-legged creatures ran about freely. Seeing they posed no threat to him, Link proceeded and as he continued, saw a near circular fence. Link found another opening and within it, at the center, stood a young girl next to another, smaller creature. It appeared to be the other ones he saw, but younger. As Link approached the girl, he heard another voice entirely.

"Howdy!"

In response to the strange word, Link turned to the right to see a chubby, middle-aged man with a round nose, wearing red and blue overalls and a pendant necklace of a fierce-looking creature.

"I've never seen _you_ 'round these parts before. Is this your first time here at Lon Lon Ranch?"

Link slowly nodded his head.

"Well, I guess it's time for introductions then, isn't it?" he chuckled as the girl stopped singing and moved next to the man, looking at Link rather closely. "I'm Talon, the owner of this here ranch. And this is my daughter Malon." Talon pointed at the girl next to him. She appeared to be Link's age and was dressed in a plain white dress with a blue pattern at the hem and a yellow shawl around her neck along with a pendant exactly like her father's. When their eyes met, a small smile flickered on Malon's face, which Link thought was _very_ pretty. "And Mr. Sensitive over there," Talon continued, "is Ingo. But you can call him _Mr._ Ingo." Talon pointed toward a tall brick building at a skinny man with green and white overalls who looked like he could be Talon's brother.

"Hey!" he called, "Talon! I need some help with the cows!"

"I'll be right over!" he called back. "Well, Malon, guess you'll have to give him the grand tour." As Talon left, Malon moved in front of Link and smiled.

"Hi!" she greeted vibrantly as she clasped her hands behind her back.

"That was you singing... right?" Link asked.

"Yes." Malon confirmed, "My mother composed it. Did you like it?"

Link nodded, earning a bright smile from Malon.

"...Ahem! Well, I guess we should start the tour."

Malon proceeded to show Link around the entire ranch, explaining to him what her job is like and telling him about all the animals there. Of course, the last thing she showed him was their world-renowned Lon Lon Milk, which was stored in the tall white house.

"The milk isn't only delivered to Castle Town," Malon explained, "but other kingdoms around Hyrule. We've made a lot of money because of it, and we're using some of it to expand the ranch and donating the rest to charity."

"What's charity?" asked Link.

Malon stared at Link, dumbfounded at his ignorance. "...Want some milk?"

Link nodded and walked over to a box to get a bottle.

"Wait!" Malon called. "You can't drink those! Their for adults only! Hold on..." Malon rushed up a pair of stairs and into a room. A few seconds later, she reappeared with a bottle with a weirld-looking picture of one of the creatures Malon called a "cow" with "Lon Lon" on one side and "Milk" on the other side. "My dad doesn't usually make milk for kids unless he makes it for me. Here, you can have mine." Malon held out her bottle of milk which Link guzzled down as Malon watched.

As Link finished, he saw that Malon was still watching him with a ghost of a smile. "What?" he asked.

"Oh! Um..." Malon tilted her head slightly and looked to her lower left, "I... never got your name..."

"It's Link."

"Link..." Malon repeated to herself. "I like the nickname I picked for you better." she told him with a smile.

"Nickname?"

"Yeah! I was gonna call you Grasshopper."

"What? No! My name's Link!"

"Right! Grasshopper it is!" Link gave Malon a comically annoyed expression as she playfully winked at him, but was cut off before he could say anything. "Well I guess we should be heading back." said Malon, "My dad should be done my now, and there's really nothing left that I'm allowed to show you."

"Actually," Link cut in, thinking of the earful he'd get if Saria found out he left the forest again, "I have to go."

Malon stopped immediately and turned to look at Link. "You're leaving... now?"

Link nodded.

Malon went with Link to the entrance of Lon Lon Ranch to see him off. Just as he was about to walk away, Malon asked him, "Will you ever come back to visit?"

"Of course!" Link answered, "Oh, I almost forgot." Link reached into his pouch for Malon's bottle.

"You can keep it." Malon told him.

"Oh... thanks. Well, I'll see you later." Link turned away and begun his trek to his next destination.

"Bye..." Malon almost whispered with a hint of disappointment in her voice.

Link walked through the field for about twenty more minutes or so until he heard a scream, followed by a cry for help, "Help!" called a young, feminine voice. Link looked around frantically until he saw it: a horse-drawn carriage driven by two humanoid monsters. And it was headed straight for Link.

_End of chapter_


	10. Hyrule's Royalty

Chapter 9: Hyrule's Royalty

As the carriage drew closer, the cries for help grew louder, and louder. Finally it stopped right in front of Link. The monsters on top of the horses stopped and looked over at each other, conversing in whatever language they speak. Link could only stand there and watch the monsters, trying to gain a clear understanding of what was going on. Just then, one of the monsters jumped off its respective horse, and ran toward Link menacingly, planning to attack the young boy. The next second seemed to occur in slow-motion. As the beast drew near, Link instinctively drew his sword and slashed at it, leaving a deep gash across its midsection. Seeing this, the other monster leaped from its horse, and lunged at Link, poised to kill. Acting on instinct yet again, Link took out his shield and raised it in self-defense, blocking what would have been a kill-blow. Then, in one swift movement, Link rushed forward and plunged his blade into the monster's chest. Then, with a screech of pain, it fell to the ground and died. By now, the other monster had already made its retreat. Link stared at the now bloody Kokiri Sword in shock and disbelief. Never before had he so much as touch a sword, let alone wield it for battle. But now, when it was absolutely necessary, he felt as if he had **lifetimes** of experience handling the blade. _If I had this,_ Link thought, _Saria would have never gotten hurt. _Link was snapped out of his bitter thoughts by a noise that came from the carriage. Link, thinking there was another monster in there, slowly approached the carriage with the Kokiri Sword in hand. But when he opened the curtain on the back of the carriage, he saw the last thing he would have expected to see.

"Stay BACK!" yelled a young girl as a blunt piece of wood collided with Link's forehead. Link stumbled back in both surprise, and pain, and looked into the carriage to see a young girl, who returned his shock expression.

"...You're not one of those monsters." she noted out loud, stating the obvious.

"Why'd you throw that at me!?" Link asked, somewhat angered.

"...I'm sorry. You see, I was kidnapped by those monsters and I thought you were one of them." As the girl stood and moved toward Link, he took a good look at her. She wore a fancy white and purple dress, with a headdress of the same colors. Just before she had gotten out of the carriage, her dress got caught in the splintery wood, causing her to trip out of the carriage. Link rushed toward her, and held out his arms, successfully catching her in a position that would make it look like they were hugging. Before they separated from their accidental embrace, however, they paused when their eyes met. Link didn't know why, but when they met eyes, Link couldn't find a word to describe the feeling he got. He felt as if they had already met in** another life. **

The girl, who felt the same way, let out a blush, "Ahem. My apologies." she told him as she pulled away. Just then, the girl happened to look over at the corpse of one of the monsters who kidnapped her. "...Did _you_ do this?" she asked.

Link nodded.

"HALT!" yelled a voice.

Link and the girl turned to see a group of men in armor rushing toward then at full speed, baring their weapons when they got to him.

"Wait!" the girl called, "He saved me from the monsters that kidnapped me! Look!" She pointed over at the deceased creature's bloody carcass.

The men looked down at the monster, then at Link. "Our apologies." They then turned towards the girl and kneeled, much to Link's bewilderment, "Forgive us, Your Highness. We failed to protect you."

"All is well." she reassured.

The men then turned towards each other and conversed amongst themselves. "He saved the princess." Link heard one say, "We should take him to the king." _The king?_ Link thought. Until now, Link had only heard of kings in some of the stories the Deku Tree would tell the Kokiri from time to time. Once the men finished talking they turned to Link again with one walking up to Link, "Young man," he said, "I am quite certain that, after saving his daughter, the king of Hyrule is going to want to have an audience with you. But that is your choice. Would you like to see the king?"

Link thought for a moment. Now, he actually had the opportunity to meet a king, which according to the Deku Tree, is a great and rare honor. "Uh-huh!" Link nodded.

"Excellent." the man said, "Come. We will get to Hyrule Castle shortly.

"Wait." the apparently important girl called, "I would like to have a word with this boy on the way to the castle... in private."

Link and the group of men looked at each other, then at Zelda. "Well, you heard her." one man said, nudging him towards the carriage.

Link accompanied the girl to the carriage as the men escorted them to their destination. For the first few moments, Link and the girl sat in awkward silence. "I know this may be sudden. But there are some things I must speak with you about." she said. "Oh! Forgive me for my rudeness! You _just_ saved me, and I haven't even introduced myself! I am **Zelda**, princess of Hyrule. May I ask _your_ name?"

"It's Link." he replied.

* * *

Back in normal time, Link paused as Talim began to speak, "Wow, life in the forest sounds exciting. You even met the princess!"

Link chuckled, "Heh, yeah."

Talim thought about when Link had went out for lunch with Xianghua. "He must have a thing with royalty." she noted to herself.

Link faced forward as he continued.

* * *

"Link..." Zelda repeated, "It sounds very... familiar."

This didn't surprise Link in the slightest. After all, he felt the same way when Zelda told him _her_ name.

"Link..." Zelda said in a low voice, "I've been having dreams of you."

"Really?" Link chuckled awkwardly, feeling beyond creeped-out.

"Yes. I couldn't get very much out of it, but what I _do_ know is that they have to do with me, you, and **a man from the desert.**

"A man from the desert?"

"Yes. I get an ominous vibe from this man. It's as if-"

"We've arrived at Hyrule Castle!" one of the men escorting the two children called.

"We'll talk about this later. Let's go!" Zelda said as she led Link out of the carriage and towards a tall, fancy-looking building. _So this is "Hyrule Castle"._ Link thought as he moved toward the said castle.

As they moved through the structure, Link looked around frantically, awe-struck as he did so.

"Your Highness." called a feminine voice. Link faced forward to see a taller, tanned woman in a blue, slightly armored bodysuit. "Welcome back." she began, "I hope your trip went well."

"Well," Zelda answered, "not _exactly, _Impa"

"What do you mean?"

"On our way back, we were attacked by a large group of monsters. The guards managed to fight most of them off, but two of them took over the carriage and kidnapped me. But somehow, I was saved by Link here after he slew them and now we're taking him to my father."

Impa looked down at the young boy. "That was very brave of you." she said, "You must be very skillful with that sword if you managed to defeat those monsters." Link looked up at her as she spoke, but didn't reply. Impa turned around, "This way." she commanded.

They all walked for about ten more minutes before Impa led them through a long hallway, and toward a giant, closed door. "Be on your best behavior." Impa warned Link before she opened the door.

Inside, there was a tall, chubby man in red seated on a fancy chair. He appeared to be surprised to see his daughter. "Zelda!" he called out, "You have returned safely to the castle. I was beside myself with worry!" The king stopped speaking as he set his sights on Link. "Who might _this _be?"

"Father," Zelda began, "this is Link. He saved me from monsters after I was kidnapped."

"...Is that so?" The king of Hyrule looked at Link rather closely.

"...Father?"

"You have my gratitude." the king told Link, "You see, the princess is a very important part of the **plans** I have for this kingdom."

"Your Majesty." called a deep voice.

Link and Zelda turned to see a tall man with slightly green skin, red hair, and black leather armor. Zelda gasped and stared at the physically intimidating man with wide eyes, much to Link's confusion. Link didn't have time to think about why, however, because Zelda took his hand and led him to the side of the room as the man and the king began to speak to one another.

"What're you doing?" Link asked.

"That's him!" Zelda whispered, "That's the man I was talking about! His name is **Ganondorf**."

"The man from the desert?"

"Yes. I have a very bad feeling about him."

"Why? Did he do something wrong?"

"Well... no; or not yet, anyway. I feel he may do something terrible in the near future." Zelda paused abruptly when she saw the man in question looking in their direction.

"That's him... isn't it?" he asked the king.

"It is," he replied, "but how did you know?"

"I had a feeling." he answered as he began to move toward Link. The young boy felt a strange feeling as the man approached him. This feeling all but intensified as Ganondorf came closer step by step, and finally, stopped completely in front of Link. Strangely, as the ominous man towered over Link, he stared down at the boy with an almost reminiscent look; as if he already knew him. "That was a brave thing you did, fighting off those monsters." he told him, though he seemed to feign surprise, "You may serve this kingdom very well in the future." Ganondorf turned and walked away with a ghost of a smirk on his face.

Zelda glared daggers at Ganondorf as he walked away, leaving Link confused. "See?" Zelda whispered, "You felt it as well, didn't you?"

Link nodded. Though he felt something, however, it wasn't just a feeling that gave him an ominous vibe, it was a feeling similar to how he felt around Zelda. As if they were somehow **connected. **

"I am deeply indebted to you for saving my daughter." the king announced, freeing Link from his thoughts. "You are welcome here whenever you want to stop by."

"Oh." Link responded, "Thanks."

Link decided to leave after biding Zelda farwell after she told him he could visit anytime. He was led escorted out the castle by Impa, who had watched everything with a scowl on her face. But Link had a feeling that it wasn't just at Ganondorf.

* * *

Impa led Link to Castle Town, a city large city surrounding Hyrule Castle. He didn't look around much before coming across a building with a label that read "Item Shop". _I_ _wonder what they sell here? _Link thought, staring up at the label. When he went inside, he looked around at its products, many of which, he had never seen before. _(I should really get back home. The Great Deku Tree won't like that I left the forest again. _Before he could walk out, however, he spotted the one thing je recognized: a shield. It was blue with many strange decorations adorning its metallic surface. His mind was then brought back to yesterday when Saria was defenseless against the Wolfos; one of which actually managed hurt her.

"How much is that shield?" Link asked the giant shop owner.

"Eighty Rupees." he growled.

Disappointed, Link looked up at the shield again. _I only have thirty. _he thought. Link exited the store and happened to look up at the sky.

The sun was setting.

Comically panicked, Link ran through the fields of Hyrule, until he finally got home. By now, the sun had already set, and Saria had to have noticed he was gone. He looked around the village to see if the coast was clear and, luckily, it was. He ran to his house and started up the ladder, hoping to not be seen.

"Link!" called an all too familiar voice.

"Oh, uh... hi, Saria." Link greeted sheepishly.

"I've been looking for you all day! Where _were _you!?"

Link desperately searched for an excuse, but to no avail.

"You didn't go where I thought you went, did you?"

There was absolutely no doubt that Saria was referring to the outside world. If Saria knew he left, who knows what she'd do? And so, Link finally came up with something.

"I was... in the Lost Woods." he lied.

"...The Lost Woods?"

"Uh, yeah! I-"

"Link! You know you aren't allowed! What if you didn't make it back!? _Especially _after what happened yesterday!?

Link was speechless. His lie made the situation even worse. He also felt guilty for resorting to lying to his best friend. But before he could say anything, Saria continued.

"Well, I guess yelling at you won't change anything. Just make sure you have someone with you next time, okay?"

Link nodded shamefully before starting up his ladder.

"...You're going to bed?" asked Saria.

Link nodded.

"Goodnight." he heard Saria call out.

"Goodnight." Link called back as he vanished into his barely-lit home. Today was an especially long day. He had met Malon, and Talon and learned about Lon Lon Ranch, and he met and saved Princess Zelda herself and met her father. But Link couldn't quite shake off the foreboding feeling he had about Ganondorf, who was _supposed _to be a good person according to the king of Hyrule's obvious trust toward him. This somehow returned his thoughts to Saria. He wasn't planning on returning to the outside world, or "Hyrule Field" as he heard someone call it, at least not until he had enough Rupees to buy the shield he saw at the Item Shop. But overall, with the exception of his lie to Saria, he felt his day went well. Of course, it was too soon for him to relax, for he had forgotten about one problem. That problem was here in the forest, and one he would likely never escape from. That problem was called **Mido**.

_To be continued!_

_Omake 2-1_

After a long day of work, young Malon made her way into the house, where her father saw her for the first time since he left her with Link.

"So," Talon started, "I take it you showed that boy around the ranch?"

Malon paused briefly, thinking about Link once again.

"Malon!"

"Huh? What?"

Talon looked at her for a second, "What's wrong, Malon? You seem pretty distant. It wasn't that boy that visited today, was it?"

"U-um, no."

"Wait a second." Talon smiled slyly, "You _like _that boy, don't you?"

"W-what!? No!"

"Your face tells a different story!" Talon teased.

Malon turned her head, trying to hide her blushing face.

"_Relax _Malon, I'm just jokin' aro-. Well, speak of the devil, howdy, son!"

Malon's hair whipped to the side as she turned toward the door, where nobody was standing. "_Daaaaad!" _Malon whined.

Talon burst into laughter as Malon stormed up the stairs and into her room.

_On the next chapter of The Legend of Zelda: Tale of Souls_

In the weeks following Link's last visit to the outside world, Link's life went back to the way it used to be. But even though that meant resuming his everyday life in the forest, it also meant he would have to deal with the self-proclaimed "leader" of the Kokiri, Mido. Mido often used his size advantage over all the other forest dwellers to intimidate them into submission. He got almost everything he wanted. Almost. For a long time, he had his eyes set just one other Kokiri; a Kokiri _girl _to be specific. Her name was Saria, who only seemed to pay attention to Link, who Mido felt wasn't a Kokiri at all. And so, jealousy sparked, with Mido treating Link worse than ever.

**Author's Note: I know that this incarnation of Ganondorf if the very first one and shouldn't know who Link is, but bear with me on this! All will be revealed in due time.**


	11. Mido

Chapter 10: Mido

"Who is Mido?" Talim asked as Link paused yet again.

Link's face saddened as he thought again of his bully for as long as he could remember.

"Sorry," Talim apologized as she saw this, "I didn't mean to-"

"No," Link interrupted, "it's okay." He proceeded to recall his last run-in with Mido.

* * *

In the weeks following Link's last visit to the outside world, Link's life went back to the way it used to be. But even though that meant resuming his everyday life in the forest, it also meant he would have to deal with the self-proclaimed "leader" of the Kokiri, Mido. Mido often used his size advantage over all the other forest dwellers to intimidate them into submission. He got almost everything he wanted. Almost. For a long time, he had his eyes set just one other Kokiri; a Kokiri _girl _to be specific. Her name was Saria, who only seemed to pay attention to Link, who Mido felt wasn't a Kokiri at all. And so, jealousy sparked, with Mido treating Link worse than ever.

Link woke up even later in the day than usual. He lied there for a half hour before finally deciding to leave his house. As he up at the afternoon sky, he failed to notice the familiar green-haired girl running up to his ladder.

"Link!" Saria called.

Link looked down at the her and climbed down to join her. While everything else about Link's life was back to normal, some things weren't. When he was with Saria, for example, now greeted him with a hug every morning, and spent more time with him. Link didn't mind any of this at all, but the other Kokiri have; especially Mido.

Due to Link waking up so late, and missing breakfast, he was hungrier than he's ever been, and spent the next hour eating any edible nut or berry he got his hands on. He and Saria spent another hour talking and playing together. After this, they walked through the village looking for something else to do. Just then, Link stopped in his tracks.

"What's wrong, Link?" Asked Saria, who turned to look at him.

Though Link heard his friend's query, _he _was trying to find the answer himself. Perhaps he was just seeing things. Without answering Saria's question, he continued walking.

But then it happened again.

He saw a vision; a vision that flashed in and out of view too fast to see it clearly. But then it stayed for a moment. He saw nothing but black. Then he saw a familiar blonde-haired girl.

It was Zelda.

_Link, _she called, _help me. _As she spoke, the **three triangles **from his dream from weeks ago, along with a shadowy figure behind it. As it threw its head back and howled in maniacal laughter, Link thought about who this was. He recognized the **deep voice **that rang out from the figure, who the light from the **triangles **were starting to reveal. But just before Link found ou t who this person was, the vision disappeared as quickly as it came.

"Link!" Saria almost shouted.

"Huh?"

"What happened there? You look like you zoned out for a second."

"I-" Link stopped himself, realizing that if he told her about the vision, Link would have to tell her about how he left the forest for the second time. "...Nothing." he lied.

Before Saria could question him any further, he heard a strained grunt as if somebody was lifting something heavy.

"What was that?" she asked.

"I don't know." Link responded, but it probably came from over there." Link pointed at a crowd of Kokiri, who seemed to be spectating. Curious, Link and Saria made their way toward the crowd, and through it, they saw what everyone was looking at.

In the center of the exposed circle stood the boy that bullied Link for years: Mido. He was lifting two rocks above his head. When he dropped them to the ground in front of him, he searched the group surrounding him as if he were looking for someone in particular. He somehow didn't see Link.

"Now watch me lift _three_!" Mido yelled as he stacked a third rock on top of the second one. As he struggled to lift them, Link turned toward Saria.

"I think we should go," he whispered.

Just then, he heard a loud thud. Link faced forward to see that Mido had already lifted the three rocks and dropped them in front of him.

"See!?" Mido boasted, "_None_ of you can lift that many! Not you, not you, not..."

Link turned to escaped the crowd, but just as he did so, he felt himself being pulled in the opposite direction.

"_There_ you are!" Mido exclaimed, pulling Link by the arm. Link tried desperately to break free, but thanks to Mido's superior strength, breaking free was virtually impossible.

"Let _go_!" Link yelled.

"Not a chance!" Mido retorted, "I need to prove a point!"

"Leave him alone!" Saria yelled.

Ignoring her, Mido pulled Link toward the rocks and faced the part of the crowd Saria was in, "Who here thinks he can lift three, no, _two _rocks?" Saria shook her head in disgust as Mido leaned in towards Link. "If you lift these," he whispered, "I'll let you go." As Mido finished, he kicked a rock of the stack of three.

Reluctantly, Link bent over to pick the rocks when he found he couldn't.

"HAHAHAH!" Mido cackled, "Pathetic!" You can't even lift two rocks!"

Link looked up at Mido angrily. True, he was unable to lift two rocks high above his head like Mido, but neither could most of the _other_ Kokiri.

"You got a problem with me!?" Mido asked menacingly before pushing Link to the ground. "It'll be a sad day in history if I let some bum with no fairy look a _me_ like that!"

As Link rose to a standing position as his very breath shook with anger.

"What's wrong?" Mido asked mockingly, "Did I strike a nerve, Mr. _No_ Fairy?"

Link couldn't stand it any more. "Mr. No Fairy" was a nickname Mido called Link for as long as he could remember. He knew how much it hurt Link to be reminded that he had no fairy like the rest of the Kokiri did. But still, he-

_SMACK!_

Before he knew what happened, Link found that he had made a fist, and it punched Mido on the cheek. Everyone, especially Mido, were beyond shocked. Soon, the shock transformed into blind rage. Mido charged at Link and swung his own fist at him. Link, moving on instinct, ducked and punched Mido again. Mido continued to crazily swing his fists at Link to no avail, while Link continued to strike Mido. One punch Link threw, connected with his mouth. Mido stumbled back, and Link pursued, still enraged at Mido. But then, Mido, refusing to loose a fight against someone he felt was inferior to him, sneakily picked up a rock. Then, as Link approached, Mido swung and hit Link one the forehead with the rock. The force sent Link to the ground on his back, his forehead beginning to bleed. Mido mounted Link, and mercilessly punched away at his face.

"Mido! STOP!" Saria screamed.

By the time Mido was finished, the blood from Link's forehead was now running down his face and onto the grass beside him. Link thought Mido was finished, but if he had the energy to raise his head, he'd see that Mido had actually went to pick up a rock, intending to throw it at him. Link's eyes grew wide when he saw Mido with the big rock lifted above his head. Just then, Saria jumped out on front of him, blocking his view of Mido. However, just as Saria began to speak, Link faded from consciousness.

As Link awoken, he found he was in the Sacred Forest Meadow. Saria, who for some reason was watching him as he opened his eyes, smiled widely seeing that Link had awoken.

"Thank goodness." she sighed as Link sat up, "I was just treating your wounds."

_Wounds? _Link thought, surveying his body.

"Surprisingly, you really didn't have very many. But you have a bad one on your forehead."

Link, remembering he had been bleeding put his hand over his forehead to see that it was no longer bleeding. "...Why are we in the Forest Meadow?" Link asked.

"We're rhe only two who know about this place. Mido won't bother us here." Saria looked at Link, who himself, eyed his boots. "Link," she started, "I'm so proud of you. Nobody else would've had the **courage** to do what you've done."

Link sighed and looked into the sky. It was nighttime. Mido had literally knocked him out and he had been out for this long. The shamed burned Link like a brand. But during low times such as this, Link was glad to have Saria with him to cheer him up.

"Saria."

"Hm?"

"...Thank you."

Though she didn't know what Link was referring to, she accepted his thanks nonetheless, "You're welcome."

I actuality, Link was thanking her for both saving him from Mido, and for her constant support for him.

Now, they both looked up at the night sky. After a while, Saria sighed.

"What's wrong?" asked Link.

"Link," she began, looking at the mysterious structure in front of them, "I have the feeling something's is about to happen. And then..." Saria paused, "...And then we might not see each other for a while... But that's okay... because we'll still be under the same sky. We can both still look up at it when we need comfort. And as long as we have that... we'll be okay."

Link had no idea what Saria was talking about, but he _did_ find comfort in the words she spoke. They spent the next few hours in silence. Saria, who had been resting her head on Link's shoulder, suggested they leave since it was getting late. As they approached Link's house, Saria leaned over and kissed Link on the cheek.

"Goodnight." she said.

"Goodnight." he told her back.

The Hylian Massacre would occur the next day.

* * *

When Link finished his story, his voice faded into silence. Then, Talim turned to Link, "...I can't imagine what would be like to loose all that."

The children sat in silence until Link spoke up. "Can I ask you something?"

"Yes." Talim responded.

"What happened to your parents?"

Talim was silent at first. Usually, she wouldn't speak to _anyone_ about her parents, but Link pretty much told her his life story. So it was only fair. With a sigh, she began to tell her story.

_On the next chapter of The Legend of Zelda_

In the ruins of an obliterated village, a girl had awoken under the rubble of a devastated house. Her head was throbbing painfully, and she bled from her forehead for some reason. She looked around at her surroundings, trying to remember exactly what happened. But she found she couldn't remember anything.

_C__hapter 11: The Last of Her Kind_


	12. The Last of Her Kind

_On the last chapter of The Legend of Zelda: Tale of Souls_

"Can I ask you something?"

"Yes." Talim responded.

"What happened to your parents?"

Talim was silent at first. Usually, she wouldn't speak to _anyone_ about her parents, but Link pretty much told her his life story. So it was only fair. With a sigh, she began to tell her story.

Chapter 11: The Last of Her Kind

Nine hundred, ninety-two years ago, there was a war fought by many different sects over the possession of a land that, unlike their own, hosted perfect conditions for living. After several bloody years, only four of the many sects, who were whose respective members were related by blood, were still willing to battle to the death over the land. After another number of years, the newly-announced leader of one of the sects miraculously managed to persuade the others into sharing the land.

The first sect became the royal family of the Chai Dynasty.

The second sect, the Alexander Family, lived alongside them, loyal to the Royal Family.

The third, the Fu-Ma Clan were given an entire section of the western part of the land on the condition that they keep the numerous demons around the place at bay, which was their expertise.

But the fourth, requested a piece of the land on its southwestern outskirts, intentionally moving away from places where violence was common in order to live in peace and tranquility. But just like the Chai Dynasty, this sect, who existed the longest out of the four, had a long history. Shortly after their creation by the goddesses, they were given the power to read and control the wind. Many members of this family used this ability in different ways. Some could foretell future events, predict the weather, and could even use their ability in combat to give them a deadly advantage. There were even a select few who could do all this, and more. They had lived peacefully in their territory for many centuries. Until about three years ago.

* * *

In the ruins of an obliterated village, a girl had awoken under the rubble of a devastated house. Her head was throbbing painfully, and she bled from her forehead for some reason. She looked around at her surroundings, trying to remember exactly what happened, only to find she couldn't remember anything. With the exception of her usual bodily functions, she could not remeber a thing. Where she was; _who_ she was; she couldn't remember anything. Before the girl could think of getting up, an older girl had entered her view. She wore a red bodysuit with armor on some parts of her body. She also wore a black mask over the bottom part of her face. She looked over at the girl and froze. The girl only sat there and stared at the her just as she did in return.

"Taki!" called a voice.

Taki turned in response to hearing her name. Immediately after, a blonde-haired man in a purple jacket followed by a woman with snow-white hair and a masculine blue uniform appeared.

"It seems we've found a lone survivor." said the white-haired woman, "And it's a little girl."

"**Ivy**." called the blonde-haired man, we've searched the entire village. This one is the only survivor."

Ivy thought for a moment.

"Let's take her to the King." Taki suggested, "We co-"

"_You_ are in no position to tell _me_ what to do." Ivy scolded.

As Ivy spoke, the blonde man had walked over to the little girl and helped her to her feet.

"What's your name?" he asked softly.

The girl stood for a moment. A light breeze began to flow through her hair as she answered, "Talim."

"Raphael." Ivy called, "We'll question her when we get to Capital. Now..." she walked over to where Talim stood and held out her hand.

Talim reached out her own hand to take it, but when she looked Ivy in the eyes, she gasped and backed away.

Raphael was confused, and Taki chuckled in amusement. "Fine." Ivy said bitterly, "You two keep an eye on her." she ordered as she walked away.

Talim walked several feet behind Ivy, between Raphael and Taki, and watched her warily. She didn't know what, but she could feel that something was not right with Ivy. She wasn't sure why, but she got a cold, malevolent, and conflicted vibe from Ivy. This made her wonder about the other two with him. Talim had no such feelings about Raphael, but Taki, while not as bad as Ivy, was still questionable.

They had been walking for hours until Talim was showing noticeable signs of fatigue.

When he saw this, Raphael made a suggestion. "It's getting late." he started, "Perhaps we should rest until the morning."

Agreeing to this suggestion, Ivy and Taki set up camp in a nearby wooded area. Ivy slept further away from her acquaintances, and Raphael had already went to sleep. Taki, who was sharing a tent with Talim, was nowhere to be found. Talim did not go to sleep, as her head was swimming with thoughts. This entire time, she was trying to figure out what was going on. Why did she wake up in a ruined village? Who are these people, and why have they taken apparent interest in her? And on top of all this, the furthest back she could remember was waking up in the ruined village.

_GRRRR..._

Talim was interrupted by the sound of her own growling stomach. She crawled out of the tent and looked around and only saw the other tents and some trees.

"You're hungry, aren't you?"

On the side of the tent stood Taki. Talim, who was confused about how she couldn't tell that Taki had been there, didn't respond.

"Here." Taki said, handing Talim a big chunk of a bread loaf.

Talim slowly ate the bread piece by piece while Taki looked up at the moon thoughtfully. After Talim was finished, she was finally able to sleep. Despite all the confusion of she felt today, she slept peacefully... until her dream came to her.

* * *

At first, everything was dark. But after a few seconds Talim saw somebody manifest in the darkness before her. He was a man with **pale skin**, **white hair**, and a **purple tunic**.

"Hmph. I missed one." he said. Just then, the man disappeared.

The next thing Talim saw was a dark hallway with brown walls and five pairs of torches protruding them to light the way. Talim looked behind her and saw that it was a dead end. But that wasn't the only thing she saw. On the floor, leaning against the wall, was a bloodied corpse. It appeared to be an old man. He looked like he was in excellent physical shape; only his face and grey hair made him look old. The condition of this body was no different than the corpses she saw in the devastated village she had already woke she woke up in when she was found by Taki and the others, suggesting** they had been killed the same way**.

"_There_ you are." a familiar voice called.

Startled, Talim turned to around to see nothing but her dimly-lit surroundings.

"Wh-who's there?" she called out fearfully.

"Have you forgotten already? It's _me_."

Talim immediately recognized the voice to be that of the man she had seen earlier. Even though she heard him, she couldn't see him.

"What do you want?" Talim asked. Just then, Talim looked behind her at the bloodied corpse, and answered her own question.

The man, who stood just outside the barely-lighted path, laughed loudly with an evil tone when he saw this, causing Talim's fear to skyrocket.

"No!" she panicked.

_Fwoosh! _was all Talim heard as the pair of torches furthest away from her went out as the man continued to laugh.

Talim whimpered fearfully as the next furthest pair went out.

_Fwoosh!_

"Why are you doing this?"

_Fwoosh!_

"Stop! You're scaring-"

_Fwoosh!_

Talim backed away as the man continued to laugh. As she did so, she stumbled back and fell on her bottom. "Please." she begged in horror in between deep, jagged breaths, "Please... don't... hurt me."

Just then, the last pair of torches went out, leaving Talim in complete darkness. By now, the man's laughter had ceased. Talim held her breath in anticipation for whatever would happen next. Everything was silent; not even Talim's rapidly beating heart could be heard.

Time seemed to stand still as Talim stared wide-eyed into the darkness in front of her. Then, faster than Talim could react in movement, the man appeared in front of her with a sword drawn, and pulled his arm back in preparation to cut her down. "HAAAHAHAHAHA!"

"NO!" was all Talim had enough time to say before the man brought his blade down on her...

And killed her.

* * *

Talim screamed to the top of her lungs as she sat up in the tent. Taki rushed in to check on her, and was shocked at what she saw. Talim was sweating all over, she had tears running down her cheeks, and she was trembling.

"What's with all the commotion!?" Raphael called as he ran towards Taki's tent.

"What happened?" Taki asked.

Talim waited for herself to calm down before she answered, "...I had a nightmare."

"That's all?" asked Raphael, who was now inside the tent.

"Yes... but... it seemed so _real_."

"Yes," said Taki, "but it was just a dream. Everything will be okay."

_Just a dream. _Talim thought. She tried to convince herself of this, but deep down, she knew that wasn't true.

"It's time to be on our way." said Ivy, who had just made her way over to them. "If we get going now, we should get to Capital by by the afternoon."

Just as Ivy said aid they would, they made it back by the early afternoon. When they made it back they brought her to the castle, where they would report to the man who had them venture to the southwestern outskirts of the kingdom: the King.

"So," he began, "how did it go?"

"The entire village was destroyed." Ivy explained, "The people there had all been killed. The way they were killed, however, suggests they were all killed the same way."

"Elaborate."

"The all had wounds inflicted on them, but they weren't severe enough to be life-threatening."

"I see. Do you have any idea how they could have been killed?"

"None that I can't think of."

The King let out a sigh. Even since he inherited the kingdom from his **parents** just nine years ago at the young age of twenty, it's been nothing but one problem after another. Just now for ecxample, he had sent Ivy, Taki, and Raphael to the **Village of the Wind Deity** to answer an SOS, which was abnormally rare for the Chai Dynasty. Apparently, they had been fighting for a short amount of time before realizing they would never last without help. However, it had taken the trio almost two days to get to the said village, which had already been destroyed, much to the King's disbelief.

"I can't believe they were all killed in such a short amount of time." he said to himself.

"Your Majesty," said Raphael, "there _is_ one survivor."

"Is that so?" the King asked.

"Is that her?" asked a younger Xianghua, who had been in the room the entire time. She pointed at the little girl who stood behind Taki, just outside the King's view.

Taki nudged Talim from behind her so the King could see.

The King took a close look at her. "You're Talim, correct?"

"How did you know?" she asked.

"After you were born five years ago, your parents brought you here to get you documented as a citizen of this kingdom. After that, they presented you to me, which all parents of this kingdom do. Honestly, it can be very time-consuming and, at times, annoying. I was trained to remember the faces of all the children of this kingdom for when the time comes that I would need to immediately recognize someone I haven't seen in years."

"...Oh..."

"Now... aside from many other important matters, we need to figure out where you'll be staying."

Ivy looked up at the King from her kneeling position, "Perhaps you could send her to the orphanage."

"No." Taki interrupted, prompting Ivy to send her a sharp glare. "As far as we know, she's the last living member of a noble family. Obviously, **someone** is out to kill this family. If they somehow find out she's alive, they may come for her."

"That may be..." the King mused, "In that case... I'm giving you custody of the girl."

Taki, who at first gave a look of disapproval, sighed and nodded.

"The loss of so many members of one of the Founding Families is truly tragic." the King said, changing the subject, "I have be sure to have the people of this kingdom attend a ceremony to honor them all. But in the meantime, you're all dismissed."

As the trio were on their way out of the castle with Talim, they made light conversation.

"So," Ivy began, "according to the King, this girl is five years old."

"That makes her the same age as my **daughter**!" Raphael proclaimed proudly.

"'Daughter'?" Ivy scoffed, "You two aren't even related by blood."

"I've adopted her into my family, so _that_ makes her my daughter." Raphael shot back.

Taki thought for a moment as the two went back and forth. She was only sixteen, but now she had full custody of a five year old girl. After much consideration, it was decided: Taki would raise Talim as her teacher, training her in the ways of combat just as **her teacher** had done for her.

* * *

"That was three years ago." Talim told Link in present time.

Link kept silent as he took in everything Talim had told him. Though they said nothing to each other, they could almost tell what the other was thinking; that while their stories were different, they understood how their respective stories made them feel. What they've both have been through not only separated them from their peers, but also resulted in higher maturity in comparison to their age group on some aspects.

With a loud yawn, Link looked up at the night sky, "I'm getting pretty sleepy," he told Talim, "I'm going back to bed."

Talim did not respond as Link got up and headed back inside. It was only until he began to descend the ladder that she spoke up.

"Link, was it?"

Link turned slowly as he answered, "...Yeah? What is it?"

"...Thank you... for tonight."

Link smiled at her, "Heh, no problem!"

Talim turned back as Link continued down the ladder. Unbeknownst to them, however Taki had been listening in to their conversation the entire time from in the shadows.

"Interesting." she mused.

_To be continued!_

_Next chapter: The New Heir_


	13. The New Heir

Chapter 12: The New Heir

**Date: September 11th, Year 992**

Talim woke up in her bed, early in the morning. She had went to her room to finally go to sleep shortly after Link had left for bed. She knew by now that Link was not there anymore; Taki was usually one to wake up very early in the morning. She most likely had already woken up to take Link to his new home.

* * *

"I... live here now?" Link asked, stunned at the increased size of this home as compared to his much smaller house in the Kokiri Forest. Taki watched Link in wonder. By her standards, this was a very small home; it had only one bedroom, and the living room was fairly smaller than her own.

"Have you owned a house before?" she asked

Link nodded, "Where I come from, _everyone_ had their own house."

"I see... Then I trust you can handle things here on your own?"

Link nodded again, prompting Taki to finally leave.

* * *

Back at the castle, the young princess, Xianghua, made her way to the throne room. Usually, at this time of day, she'd only say goodmorning to her father and be on her way, but today, she wanted to speak to him about some curiosities that had arose over the past day.

"Good morning." Xianghua greeted as she walked into the throne room.

"Good morning, Xianghua." the King greeted back. He appeared to be writing something; but it was too short to be an official document or royal decree of any sort. She couldn't see what was on it because her father had concealed it when Xianghua came too close, adding to her curiosity.

"Can I ask you something? About Link?"

"The Hylian boy." the King said to himself, "Sure."

"Did you think it was a good idea to give him a house for him to live in all by himself?"

"You're worried about him?"

Xianghua nodded.

"The boy claimed to be a Kokiri, which someone with an untrained eye could easily believe. But I could tell just by looking that he is a Hylian. But according to his story, he lived with the Kokiri, which I would say is confirmation that he lived like them as well."

"I see."

"**Yung-Seong**" the King called, looking at the boy seated to his immediate right, "run this letter to the delivery hawk keeper. And_ don't_ read it."

"Right away!" Yung-Seong took the letter and rushed past Xianghua and out of the room.

Now was her chance. Now that her younger and much less mature brother was out of the room, she could now ask her father the question she had in mind when she fist approached him; which she knew would be personal for him.

"Father." Xianghua began.

"Yes?" the King responded, now giving her his full attention, knowing that whenever Xianghua called him "father", it meant she was serious, which was admittedly rare.

"Yesterday, you told Link you knew what it was like to lose close friends."

"Yes, I did."

Xianghua paused for a moment before continuing, "...Were you talking about **Mom**?"

The King did not answer.

"...What happened to her?" she persisted

"I'm sure you can guess."

"...How did it happen?"

"Your mother and I got along very well, as I'm sure you could guess. But sometimes, though rarely, we would have a disagreement, and she would stubbornly stick to what she believed to be right. That character flaw is why she isn't here."

Xianghua said nothing more as she left the room. The King sighed as he continued to fulfill his royal duties for several more hours until a castle official walked in.

"Two letters have arrived for Your Majesty."

"Good- bring them here."

After he received the letter the King gently and silently placed the paper on his desk and sighed.

"What ails you, Your Majesty?" asked Marth, who, along with Zasalamel, had been in the room the entire time.

"Have someone send me Xianghua and Yung-Seong." he ordered.

"For what purpose, might I ask?" asked Zasalamel.

"I need to find out who the heir of this kingdom will be."

"The heir?" asked Marth, "Then shouldn't we wait for-"

"No... **She's** dead." the King handed Marth the letter he received.

Marth's eyes grew wide as he read it. "I... I'm sorry, Your Majesty."

"We can grieve for **her** later. For now, we need to find out who the next heir will be."

* * *

Xianghua had been with Siegfried, who said they would "hang out" the previous day, for about an hour. They were alone, under a tree. As they spoke.

"I can't wait to get older." Siegfried told Xianghua, "Then, your dad would assign me missions much better than just deliverying some documents while being being supervised by an adult."

Xianghua hugged her knees as she looked over at Siegfried, "Well, I heard my dad say there were a lot of people who decided to become combatants over the last decade." Xianghua let out a giggle, "I guess we've got to work a little harder than _they_ had to."

Siegfried let out an annoyed groan, prompting Xianghua to giggle again. Then, she looked around to be sure nobody else was blose enough to hear what she was about to say next.

"...Hey Siegfried?"

"Hm?"

Xianghua blushed a little, "Speaking of the future... do you think thst maybe... you and I could... um..."

"Princess Xianghua!" a voice called.

Xianghua looked forward and, to her disappointment, and annoyance, a castle official was running towards her.

"Pardon me." he told Siegfried, before facing Xianghua, "Your father has summoned you to the throne room."

Xianghua sighed as she stood and moved to stand beside the official, and turned to Siegfried, "Bye."

"Don't look so down; we can continue the conversation tomorrow."

This partially brightened her mood, and she joined the official as he made his way to the castle.

In the throne room, Xianghua and Yung-Seong stood side by side when the King made his announcement.

"Today," he started, " I have a mission for the two of you only."

Yung-Seong gasped, "My first mission!? Yes! Now I can show my skills off!"

"It's not that kind of mission." the King corrected.

"Oh."

"Well what kind of mission is it, then?" asked Xianghua.

"I'm sending the two of you two a small city in the southeast to retrieve an important document."

Xianghua giggled quietly as she remembered what she and Siegfried were talking about.

"What's so funny?" the King asked, somewhat aggravated.

"Oh, uh, nothing."

"...Anyway... I'm trusting the two of you to get this document delivered to me by tomorrow afternoon."

"Wait!" Xianghua blurted out, "We doing this by ourselves?"

"Well, I _did_ say this mission was just for the two of you, right?"

"Right!" the high-spirited Yung-Seong exclaimed, "I won't let you down!"

"See, Xianghua?" the King boasted, "You should be as enthusiastic about this as your brother."

"Yeah, right." Xianghua said under her breath.

"Anyway, I've told the city's leader to be expecting to today. You shouldn't run into any trouble on the way there. Good luck."

The siblings still stood there, thinking about the mission.

"That means _go_."

Xianghua and Yung-Seong rushed out of the room to start their mission.

When the two left, Marth turned to the King, "Your Majesty, I thought you were going to tell them which one of them would be heir."

The King sighed, "In the history of this kingdom, it was always the boy who was made heir. And if a girl was the only one who could take the throne, she would be forced by law to marry when they reached the right age and the husband would be the Supreme Ruler of the couple, even if he wasn't related to the Royal Family, though he would have to take the families surname. Yung-Seong is the my only son, and also my youngest. At first, I wasn't at all even considering making Xianghua heir. But since** she's the oldest now,** it's either her, or Yung-Seong. This mission is merely a test to see who I can trust this kingdom with the most."

"But how's that? You said they shou-"

"That was a lie. I will be the one orchestrating trials to test them. And so, I need you two here while I'm out." Without another word, the King stood and left the throne room.

As Xianghua and Yung-Seong stood at the southern gate of the city, the King finally managed to catch up with them. His children started toward the southeast, and the King followed closely behind stealthily, was he had learned to master thanks to the times of war he grew up in. As the children reached a wooded area, the King decided to put his plan into action.

Xianghua and Yung-Seong had been walking down a path when they heard a sound unknown to them.

"What was that?" asked Yung-Seong.

Xianghua did not answer, as she was concentrating on listening for another noise.

Just then, a tall tree toppled over right in front of them.

"Watch out!" Xianghua shouted, extending an arm to block her brother's path.

"Woooaaah." Yung-Seong gaped, "The trees in this forest must be pretty old."

"No." Xianghua disagreed, "Look at the end."

Yung-Seong stared at the perfectly sliced end of the tree.

"Somebody cut the tree down... right in front of us."

Yung-Seong gasped, "You're right! It's as if someone's tried to make it fall on us!"

Xianghua sighed, as did her father, who stood behind an adjacent tree.

"Well, let's just be more careful from here on out." Xianghua warned as they resumed walking.

"But dad said we wouldn't have any trouble."

"No; he said we shouldn't have any trouble. Besides, when's the last time he's actually been out here?"

The King scoffed. It offended him to some degree for whatever reason, but it was true. The last time he's been outside Capital aside from meetings with the leaders of the cities and villages he ruled over and meetings with rulers, or leaders, of other countries to discuss treaties or something of that nature, was when he was fighting in war about two years after he became king.

The King now thought of a way to attack the two children to test them. But the only plans he could come up with was something that would either reveal himself to his children, or, most likely, kill them. And so, he continued to follow them, waiting ever patiently for his opportunity. After several hours, the duo stopped upon Xianghua's order.

"'Stop!?'" Yung-Seong exclaimed, "But I'm still ready to go!"

"It's clear that somebody's out to get us. I've been listening out for someone this entire time, and it doesn't seem like they're close. So we should conserve our energy in case we have to fight somebody later on."

The King was genuinely surprised at the wits Xianghua was showing. She sure can take charge when she needs to. he thought, I should take a break, myself. The King walked far enough away to not be heard, and began to urinate.

"Can we go now?" Yung-Seong persisted just a few minutes later.

"Fine." Xianghua sighed, "We'll make better time if we leave sooner, anyway."

The children made their way to a clearing, which happened to be where the wooded area and a rock area came together.

In the clearing, the saw a figure. Upon closer inspection, it was an armored individual. Xianghua led Yung-Seong behind a big rock to look at him even closer. As she took notice of the blue armor and strange sword, her eyes grew wide.

"What is it?" Yung-Seong asked.

"It's... It's him..."

"Who?"

"...**Nightmare**..."

_To be continued!_


End file.
